Ripped Apart

********

Brenna glanced at the clock and smiled. One good thing about living with a gargoyle was the fact that Demona had no concept of bedtimes because she was used to being up all night.

"Brenna, I've been thinking about what to do about the summer." Demona handed Brenna the bowl of popcorn. They were getting ready to watch a movie.

"Yeah?"

"I talked with your counselor and you can get credit for internships. I'd like for you to do one at NightStone. It would give you something to do during the day because we don't have enough work for a full time file clerk and I don't want to leave you home alone." Brenna grimaced at that. She used to be left home alone all the time. Demona's voice softened. "We don't live close to anything you could do. You can't just walk to the library from here." Oh, well that was different. It wasn't that Demona didn't trust her.

Brenna set the bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table. "What would I be doing?" Brenna normally got really bored during the summer, and had been hoping to be able to work more hours so she could save up some money. She didn't want to have to rely on Dominique for everything. Or have to get all her purchases approved first.

"I'll get you a list of potential departments and you can pick." Demona reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "I also agreed to take a few other interns from Cordova for the summer."

"Really?" Brenna stared at the nonchalant attitude Demona had about that.

"Yes, I'll be having a few interview for a couple positions." Demona smiled at her, "You get first pick though, and there are some departments that I don't want them in… but you could be." Demona's expression became stern, "But if you or any of those kids spend more time chatting than working, I will end the internship. This is still a job."

********

Demona wasn't thrilled with the internship program that she'd had to create. Ms. Pogge's price was surprisingly not personal. She cleaned up Brenna's school records in exchange for one summer Nightstone paying internship program. Demona would find offices far away from her so that she didn't have to deal with the children. They would only take up to five of them, and only if they met the criteria and passed the interview

The movie started and Brenna sat back to watch. Demona glanced at the girl. The things she did for this child. Demona shook her head, not quite believing her own actions at times. Still, the way Brenna had looked at her today during the presentation and the way Brenna excitedly told her how well she thought Demona had done during dinner… it was nice.

Halfway through the late night movie Demona noticed Brenna looked a bit cold, but she wasn’t moving to get a blanket. That was something that Demona wasn't used to yet, making sure the thermostat was high enough for Brenna's sensitive human skin at night. Gargoyles handled cold much better.

"Brenna." Demona snapped at the girl when she noticed her getting so cold she was curling in on herself, but wasn't making any move to leave the couch. "Get a blanket already! I don't want to sit here and watch you shiver."

"Okay." Brenna got up and moved up the stairs towards her bedroom quickly. Demona just rolled her eyes and hit pause on the movie. She then got up and stretched. How Brenna talked her into a Star Trek movie she'd never know. And one with time travel as well. Demona grimaced. Time travel never worked out how you wanted it to.

Demona then wandered over to the thermostat to turn it up. She could hear Brenna started down the hall. When they sat back down on the couch Demona was a little surprised that the girl moved to cover Demona up with the large blanket as well. Brenna's small smile made Demona decide to just sit back, rather than explain to the girl that the cold really didn't bother her.

********

Brenna couldn't believe she was doing this. Demona said it was safe, but still the idea scared her. Well, this was definitely something that she couldn’t tell her friends she did on a Saturday night.

"Are you warm enough?" Demona asked. Brenna just nodded. It was weird being held like she weighed nothing, like she really was a baby. Demona just grinned at her. "Alright, here we go." Brenna's entire body tensed up when Demona leapt off the balcony and her heart was pounding in her chest. Finally they were gliding up and when Brenna felt that she risked opening her eyes.

The ground was getting further and further away. Brenna had asked a simple question, what was it like being able to fly, and that got her into this mess. She wasn't sure Demona wasn't just trying to teach her to keep her stupid questions to herself.

"Relax." Demona sounded a touch irritated. "I won't drop you."

"I never thought you would." Brenna spoke softly, but Demona was able to hear her over the wind. It was then that Brenna felt Demona relaxing a little.

"I like being up here. It's peaceful." Demona spoke while Brenna stared down at the ground. It was different seeing it from up high than seeing it in a movie like this. The mansion wasn't very big from this high up.

"It's pretty." Brenna felt the need to say something positive, since it seemed like Demona was actually doing this to be nice. It wasn't a punishment, no matter how much if felt like it. Brenna was really looking forward to being back on the ground again.

"The city isn't really that far by air." Demona spoke as she stopped doing the wide circles around their home and Brenna realized they were going to be up there for a while.

"Aren't I too heavy to carry for long?"

"No, my true form is much stronger. You don't weigh anything to me." Demona's answer made Brenna's heart sink. They could be in the air a while if that were true.

"Great." She muttered, but when Demona glanced at her Brenna just smiled like she meant that in a good way. Brenna was pretty sure there was a reason humans didn't have wings. They didn't belong in the air like this.

When they got closer to the city the lights from the air made it look really beautiful. And that ugly Eyrie building looked pretty nice at night as well, not that they got anywhere close to it.

********

Demona noticed Brenna starting to ease her death grip on Demona's neck as they glided over the city. Demona didn't try any building dodging with the girl in her arms even if she thought it would be fun. Brenna was just starting to trust her with this and Demona didn't want to ruin that. She could feel the girl finally starting to relax. Brenna had been scared, that was obvious once they'd started, but Brenna didn't back down. Demona could admire that.

For some reason Demona hadn't even thought that gliding would scare Brenna. It was just such a natural thing to do, like breathing the air.

"This is nice." Demona could hear Brenna mutter and it made her smile. That was what she'd wanted to show the girl. Most humans would never get to see the city like this, but Brenna should get the opportunity. She deserved it far more than that blasted Detective that Goliath carted about.

They headed back home shortly after that. Demona was satisfied that Brenna had fun.

********

"Mother's day is right around the corner. Make sure to say it with flowers." Brenna read the sign on Lynati's Florists as they drove to school Monday morning. Her fist clenched at that. It was coming up this month.

The sound of Dominique turning a page in a report that had been faxed to the house made Brenna glance up. She'd bring it up later. Brenna turned to look out the window again. She should really get her mother some flowers. They could take it to the cemetery. God, she hated having to go there.

"Do you have enough lunch money?" Dominique asked as they pulled onto the block that the school was on.

"Yeah." Brenna double checked that it was still in her pocket when she said that. The limo stopped and Brenna got out. When it pulled away Brenna found herself staring after it. Should she get Dominique a mother's day gift too? Would that be right? The thought hurt. Brenna turned to trudge inside. Dominique wasn't her mother, and treating her like she was… how was that fair to Brenna's real mother? But Dominique was going to adopt Brenna and she was taking care of her. Brenna just didn't know. She had two weeks to figure it out.

Allaine beamed at her when he found her in the halls. "Did you hear… No of course you heard." He moved closer to Brenna. "Ms. Destine decided to create an internship program. My committee is beyond thrilled. You made me a star. I should give you my first born."

"No thanks." Brenna gave him a weak smile. She wasn't feeling up to celebrating with him right now.

"Are you okay?" Allaine lost his grin and looked at Brenna seriously.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." Brenna lied.

******** 

"Okay, what is this plan you told me about?" Elisa stared at Fox, and was a bit put off by the woman's complete lack of concern.

"It's simple. We will call Cordova and tell them that David wants to make it up for canceling on them. We will be willing to give the kids a short tour and do mock interviews. We'll rope the people from Human Resources into doing the majority of them, but Brenna will get pulled out for an interview with Owen." Fox glanced down at her now filed nails. She'd been doing them while they talked.

 "Its gonna be hard to get time off right now." Elisa hated not being able to be available for whatever needed to be done, but if things went well they'd be keeping Brenna into the night so she could meet the clan. Elisa wanted to be able to be there.

"When is your next night off?"

"Thursday"

Fox glanced up at Elisa. "We could do this sooner. It isn't like you need to be there." Elisa just glared at Fox. The redhead had the nerve to smirk at her. "Anyone ever tell you that you're a bit of a control freak?" That was hypocritical of a woman that used real people as chess pieces in games.

"I want to be there." Elisa said flatly.

"Fine." Fox shoved her hair back over her shoulder. "We'll wait. I guess if Demona hasn't killed her yet she'll probably be safe a few more days."

******** 

"No." Dominique's voice held a definite finality to it. Brenna grimaced. "These lyrics… have you even paid attention to what they're saying?" The redhead took the CD out of Brenna's hand and placed it on the rack. "It's disgusting. Find better music. If I hear you ever buy anything from this…" Dominique glanced at the cover, "Worker72… I can't even call them a band… I'll dump it."

"What?" Brenna just stared at Dominique in shock. She liked their music, it had a great beat, perfect for dancing in her bedroom to.

"No." Dominique just stared at Brenna, clearly expecting the conversation was over. Dammit. Brenna didn't have a chance in hell of changing her mind when Dominique got like this.

"Fine."

"What other music were you getting?" When Dominique asked that, Brenna really regretted asking the woman to stop here on the way home. Her CD's were getting tiring, and she just wanted some new ones. She didn't expect Dominique to start objecting to language or questionable content.

They left with three of the five CD's that Brenna had wanted, but Dominique had paid for those. Still, Brenna was not in the best of moods when they left.

********

Demona grimaced. They were halfway home and the girl was still pouting over those two CD's. The language was harsh, and while one had several disgusting songs about sex, the other actually had a song about suicide. Demona couldn't let the child have things like that.

"Oh, I got a permission slip I need signed." Brenna finally spoke. Demona wasn't going to apologize for looking out for her human. It looked like Brenna was letting go of her anger. Good, if it had gone on much longer Demona would have had to do something about it.

"What for?"

Brenna pulled the paper out of her bookbag and glanced at it. "Doing mock interviews with a business."

"Oh, that sounds like a good idea." Demona took the paper from Brenna's hand and pulled her briefcase onto her lap to pull out a pen. "Take it seriously, we really do judge applicants quickly."

"Is that how I got the job?" Something in Brenna's voice sounded like there was something wrong. Demona handed the paper back to her and looked into her eyes. Teenage humans were so incredibly moody it was like a constant battle to figure out their emotions.

"I liked your views." Demona gave the girl a small grin. "You were working on that paper when I first saw you."

"So it wasn't nepotism?" Oh, so that was it. Someone told the girl she didn't deserve her job.

"Did someone at work say that?" Demona spoke slowly, her voice raising just a little. If someone was rude enough to imply that to Brenna they wouldn't be working with her tomorrow.

"No." Brenna spoke and Demona just stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate. "Gencie just said something the other day and it made me wonder."

Demona almost regretted it wasn't someone at work. She was better able to deal with punishing people there. "I hired you in spite of the fact that your mother worked for me, not because of it. It's never a good idea to hire relatives or lovers for the same office, because things can become unprofessional." Demona reached out to caress the slowly growing hair on the side of Brenna's head. It was soft and fuzzy. "And I kept you working there because you do good work. I know that you will do your best." She kept out the part where she had really hired her to get on Angela's good side. It was nepotism in a round about way, and it wasn't like she'd ever had the chance to tell Angela what she was doing with the girl, she'd lost her chance with her daughter shortly after hiring Brenna.

"Thanks." Brenna gave Demona a pleased smile.

********

"Brenna McCullen " The man with short blonde hair called out her name and Brenna stood up. She was taking this seriously, because Dominique thought that she should. She'd dressed in one of her better outfits and had created a resume. Dominique had actually helped her revise it a few times as well, wording what she did at work to sound more important. One glance at the other students showed her that a few of them weren't doing that. It had been a bit of a surprise that they had come here to Xanatos Enterprises. Brenna had expected a smaller company to be doing this.

"Hello, I'm Mr. Burnett, and I'll be conducting your interview." The man stood rather rigidly, but after having worked with Ms. Destine for months it didn't intimidate her. "Follow me."

When they got into the elevator, rather than slipping into one of the offices that Brenna had noticed other students going into she started to feel a bit nervous. "Mrs. Xanatos said she was impressed with you." He spoke as Brenna glanced at the button he'd pushed when he came in. It was lit up. They were almost going to the top of the building.

"Where are we going?"

"My office is on one of the top floors." Mr. Burnett answered her calmly.

 He sat at his desk glancing at Brenna's resume for an uncomfortable length of time. "I see you left out an address."

"Security." Brenna answered feeling a bit embarrassed about the need for it. Dominique had explained that being as rich as she was made Brenna a target. People might try to get to her through Brenna.

"You do realize in a real interview you shouldn't leave that out."

"Yes, but I already have a job." Brenna gave him a weak smile. "They know where I live."

"Yes, I noticed you are working for our competitor." Mr. Burnett gave her a slight nod. "How do you like it there?"

"It's good. I have enough to do, have flexible hours, and lots of advancement potential." Which was a fancy way of saying she was pretty close to the bottom of the food chain and there was only up from there. Of course, with Dominique's giving her things like internships, she really did have the opportunity to grow into the jobs she might get.

"How is working with Ms. Destine? I've heard she isn't the easiest person to work for."

********

Elisa sat in the surveillance room watching the interview. "She's evading like crazy. We already know she lives with Demona but she won't admit it."

"Well we are the competition." Xanatos spoke from behind her and Elisa felt her back tense. "Or perhaps Demona has the girl on a short leash."

Elisa nodded at that. She could easily imagine Demona demanding silence from Brenna. She continued to watch Owen conduct the interview.

"Her last name is McCullen?" Xanatos asked while watching the monitors. He'd been away while they planned this whole operation. Elisa just nodded as she listened to Brenna talking about her job. The job wasn't what she really wanted to know about, but Owen couldn't ask the questions Elisa really had without putting Brenna on edge. "Do you have a file on her? Maybe I can find some leads that you can't."

Elisa shoved the file towards him without even looking. She didn't like the way he said that, and knew some of his methods were less than legal, but this was a young girl's life they were talking about, and Elisa couldn't go to the cops and explain why this was a problem. She had to keep Demona's secret.

When she glanced over at him, Elisa could swear he looked a bit upset for just a moment, before he covered it up. "Well, I'll make a few copies of this and see what I can discover." He smiled at her and set the file aside.

After a few more minutes Owen slipped out leaving Brenna alone in his office. Elisa watched as Brenna's curious eyes traveled over the room.

"She isn't Fey sir." Owen said as soon as he entered the room. "She's completely human."

"Well, there goes that theory." Xanatos' casual dismissal of the only lead Elisa had irritated her. He didn't seem at all surprised, and to be honest neither was Elisa, but then it left them with the same question. What did Demona want with Brenna?

"I think Owen has gotten all he's going to from her." Fox spoke softly while staring at the monitor. "I'm going in. She seemed more comfortable with me at the Career Day."

"How are things going downstairs with the other kids?" Fox turned to ask Xanatos.

"Splendid. We have about a ten of them still here and they are in their interviews." Xanatos smiled at Fox and Elisa wasn't too comfortable with that. When Fox said she wanted to cut Brenna off from the herd, she meant it. They had made sure the girl was, while not the last one called in, near the last.

When Fox left Elisa glanced at her watch. They still had a few hours before nightfall, and after reading the P.I.T. newsletter with Brenna's story about meeting Angela, Elisa knew that having Angela around when they talked about Demona would be helpful. Brenna clearly looked up to the young female.

********

Brenna had been talking with Fox for a while. The woman had come in to chat, and she was really friendly. They even talked about gargoyles for a bit, but Fox didn't say anything more personal about them, or mention the rumor that they lived in the castle with her. Brenna figured it was just talk anyhow, people found someone famous that stood up for gargoyles and picked on her.

"Oh," Brenna glanced out the window and noticed it was getting later. A quick glance at her watch let her know that she was supposed to be at NightStone in ten minutes. She was late. "I've gotta go."

"It's only 4:30." Fox said after casually glancing at the clock on Mr. Burnett's desk. He'd left them alone in here.

"I need to get to work before they close up for the day." Brenna stood up. She hadn't meant to be late, and she hated disappointing Dominique.

"Why? You don't have enough time to do any work now. I thought you must have the day off."

"My mom works there, we need to go home after work." Brenna spoke distractedly while putting her jacket back on. She didn't notice Fox raise her eyebrow at that.

"Why don't you call her and invite her over for dinner as well. We could eat around 6:30." Brenna blinked at the unexpected invitation. Her mind quickly calculated the sunset time and realized that even if Dominique wanted to, they couldn't.

"Ah, no thanks." Brenna smiled at the woman a little tensely.

"Are you sure, you didn't even ask your mom." Brenna felt a little pale at that. Did she call Dominique her mom?

"No, she isn't my mom. She's my guardian." Brenna felt an embarrassed flush come to her cheeks. "I… my mom died this year and she's taking care of me."

"Who is she? Maybe she'd like to visit. We could even eat in the Castle."

Brenna didn't like being on the spot like this. Dominique knew people at NightStone knew about them, but she didn't want it public knowledge. "Thanks for talking with me." Brenna felt incredibly rude completely ignoring the question like that. "But I need to go."

"Maybe you could come back Friday and have dinner? I'm sure David would like to meet you." This was starting to creep Brenna out a little. Fox wanted her to stay too badly.

"Dom… My guardian isn't going to want me to. She likes to get home before dark." Brenna opened the office door and Fox walked with her to the elevator.

"Okay." Fox pushed the button for the elevator for Brenna, and Brenna relaxed a little. She was probably imagining it. Fox wasn't being a pervert. "If you ever decide to apply here, just let me know. I'll make sure we have somewhere to put you." Fox smiled as Brenna stepped into the elevator.

"Thanks." Brenna felt a blush come to her cheeks. It wasn't long ago that bookstores and even fast food places were turning her down and now she was getting open invitations to work at Xanatos Enterprises.

********

Elisa marched out into the hall as soon as the elevator doors closed. "What are you doing letting her get away?"

"You obviously weren't watching close enough or you would have seen I was starting to scare her." Fox flipped her hair to punctuate her statement. "If she thinks I'm a freak, she isn't going to trust me and right now I think she needs to trust someone."

Elisa took a deep breath. Brenna was going back to Demona. They needed to get the girl to meet the clan, to find out exactly how much she knew, and to get her to understand that being with Demona was bad for her health.

"She'll tell Demona where she was." Elisa spoke slowly. "And I don't think Demona will take that well."

"Keeping her against her will is still kidnapping, or did you not realize that detective."

"I know that." Elisa snapped at Fox, hating her smug attitude. It's just this became a lot more complicated. Demona would quickly realize they were on to her.

"She's planning to adopt her. Whatever her plans are, they must be long term." Fox spoke a bit more softly. "It gives us time. I'll put her under surveillance at school, and we can try to get to her again."

"You'll put her under surveillance?" Elisa glared up at Fox. This was her investigation.

"Well, unless you wanted to quit your job to follow that girl around, we'll have to use my people."

********

Demona glanced at the clock on the wall again. Brenna wasn’t here yet and it was almost five. That girl knew she had to leave with enough time to get home before dark.

"I'm here." Brenna panted out, obviously having been running. "I’m sorry."

"Well, lets get going." Demona grabbed her coat and left her office. Brenna had made it at the last minute, as seemed to be that girl's talent. "So how was the interview?" She asked as they walked down the hall.

"You won't believe who was doing them." Brenna started to speak a bit excitedly.

********

Brenna's eyes widened in shock as the echo of the impact still seemed to ring in the elevator. When she'd told Dominique about what happened at the Eyrie building she hadn't expected the redhead to become so angry. "I'm sorry." Brenna whispered, once again unsure about why she was apologizing, but clearly she'd done something to upset Dominique.

"It isn't you." Dominique was glaring at something that Brenna couldn't see, but she spoke quickly, if with a bit of a growl. Since it wasn't Brenna Dominique was angry with Brenna moved a bit closer and slowly, cautiously picked up the hand Dominique had dented the elevator door with. Dominique was hurt. Brenna could see some bleeding and worried about broken bones. Dominique had hit it really hard.

"You're hurt."

Dominique finally glanced at her and the near madness in her eyes started to fade. "I'll be fine." The redhead grumbled. Brenna just continued to stare. She'd seen Dominique angry many times, but never like this. It took a conscious effort for her to not step away.

********

Dammit! Demona clenched the hand that Brenna still held while ignoring the pain that caused. Maza and Xanatos were interfering where they didn't belong. Brenna was HERS! They would try and take the girl away, and Demona couldn't allow that. Why couldn’t they just mind their own business? This had nothing to do with them, nothing at all. Every time Demona got something that made her at all happy someone took it away… but not this time. No, not this time. She held the girl's hand in her own and stared down into concerned and gentle eyes. Not Brenna. "You didn't do anything wrong." Demona spoke more gently when she noticed the look of guilt on the girl's face.

The elevator was almost to the parking garage. Demona stepped back from Brenna and pulled her damaged hand into the sleeve of her jacket to conceal it from anyone that might still be around. She'd broken it in her anger, and it was still healing from the abuse. Her human form was upsettingly fragile at times. She'd barely even dented the door.

They walked quietly to the limo, while Demona tried to think about how much she should tell Brenna about this mess and the clan. She'd avoided going into detail about the clan before now, because it was one thing to know that the world would be better off without humans on it and another to tell the girl that she felt that way. Brenna was far better than a human, but Demona wasn't sure how she'd respond to knowing what the fight with the clan was really about.

When Gregory opened the door for them, Demona watched as Brenna cleverly put herself between the man and Demona so that he couldn't see the hidden hand. Brenna did it instinctively, moved to protect Demona without any thought. That was what clan was about. Demona moved to sit down, but she continued to stare at the girl who was looking more and more uncomfortable with it. The girl may be human, but it was just an accident of birth. Demona had forgiven her that and she would make sure to protect her child from Maza's good intentions.

********

"Brenna we need to talk." Dominique finally spoke. Brenna had put her book bag away and come downstairs to find Dominique just quietly sitting at the kitchen island.

"Okay." Brenna moved to slide into the seat next to Dominique. Maybe now she'd find out why the redhead got so mad when she heard about Brenna's interview. Brenna had gone over what she'd told the woman several times in her mind and couldn't figure out what could possibly be wrong.

Brenna watched as Dominique sighed while staring at her again. She'd been staring a lot today. "I have a lot of enemies. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want to burden you or worry you." Dominique reached out and petted the soft fuzz on the side of Brenna's head. Dominique rarely hugged her but she'd do this and somehow it was enough. "I had hoped that you wouldn't come to any of my enemies attention, but it looks like they found you before I was ready for them to realize I had you." Brenna's eyes widened. This didn't sound good. Fox hadn't seemed mean or dangerous. She hadn't seemed evil. Was it Fox Dominique was talking about? Dominique turned Brenna in her seat so that she was staring into her eyes. "Xanatos and Maza are behind that interview. I know it. I want you to be careful with what you tell them. In fact I'd like you to avoid them whenever possible."

"Are they… I thought Elisa Maza was a cop. She's a bad guy?" Brenna just stared a bit dumbstruck. Detective Maza had seemed nice too. Brenna didn't like that she couldn't tell the good guys from the bad guys.

Dominique went quiet for a moment. "She isn't a danger per say. She just isn't going to want you with me. Her and the clan will have problems with my having you."

"But it's not up to them." Brenna felt a bit of fear clench at her heart. "It's not up to them, right?" Dominique looked too concerned for this to be nothing. Brenna didn't miss that Dominique had mentioned the clan they never talked about as well.

"They could be a problem, but we'll deal with it." Dominique seemed to sit taller. "I just want you to avoid talking to them, avoid them whenever you see them, and tell me if you ever see them. I don't want them anywhere near you."

"Okay." Brenna spoke softly while still trying to understand the threat. Just talking to these people was dangerous? "Does that mean Angela too?" Angela was part of that clan, and while Brenna hadn't seen the female since that one night in October she still liked to think she'd see her again.

Brenna watched Dominique grit her teeth for a moment. "Yes. Angela can't be trusted…" It seemed to hurt Dominique to even say that. Brenna moved to rest her hand over the woman's and squeezed gently. It had healed on the way home. "She's been blinded by Goliath's ideals, and she… If you see her just don't talk to her." Brenna hated that and didn't want to ignore the female but she'd do whatever Dominique told her to. It wasn't like she'd bump into the gargoyle anyhow. Brenna was always at home at night. "I know." Dominique stared into Brenna's eyes. "I know you like her. I'm sorry it has to be like this… but I can't risk losing you. Just don't talk to any of them."

"Why are they doing this? What are they doing?" Brenna didn't like not understanding. They were obviously in some sort of danger, but Dominique was being so vague.

"Maza is a friend of the clan. My clan." Dominique's grip on Brenna's hand started to hurt, but the woman seemed to notice that and let go. "The clan and that… human… decided that they were right and refused to listen to my views. They judged me without even trying to see the truth I was speaking and they kicked me out." Dominique was managing to growl out her words even though she was in human form. "It is some of our… less civil disagreements… that are probably motivating them to try and interfere, but you are mine." The possessiveness of that statement had Brenna's eyes widening a little as she stared at Dominique carefully. "Mine, and I won't let their lies or blindness threaten that. They think I'm evil, they think I'm a monster, and they will not be willing to allow me to have my own human child without a fight."

Brenna couldn't imagine anyone thinking Dominique was a monster. "You're not evil." She whispered to comfort the woman. It shouldn't even need to be said. Dominique had done so much for Brenna, cared for her. Evil people didn't do that. Why would anyone think she was evil? Brenna wanted to ask, but decided that maybe that question could wait. Dominique looked far from happy. Brenna gave her a weak smile. "And I'm not a child."

"Yes you are." Dominique gave a small hint of a smile. It looked forced and it faded quickly. "Avoid them, and if you can't, don't believe everything they say."

"Okay." Brenna nodded.

"I'll take care of this." Dominique moved to caress Brenna's hair again. It was more touching in a short period of time than Dominique ever did unless Brenna was crying. "You don't have to be afraid. Just be alert. Even though they are my enemies, they wouldn't actually hurt you physically, and I'd never allow that even if they were inclined to take out their anger at me on you. Never."

********

Demona wanted to let the girl remain terrified of the clan and Maza, but she heard herself reassuring Brenna that they wouldn't be that dangerous. Terror would make sure Brenna listened to her demands to stay away, but while Demona knew fear would be a good way to control her human, she didn't want it to be like that between them. Brenna usually did what she was told; only breaking the rules in extreme situations. The girl didn't need more nightmares.

Only half of Demona's attention was on the dinner conversation as she tried to figure out how to deal with the clan and Maza. She didn't need them prying and telling Brenna things the girl wasn't ready to hear. She also didn't want them interfering with the adoption proceedings. They could do some real damage with really minimal effort at this tentative point in her and Brenna's relationship. Demona hadn’t had time to introduce some of her more aggressive ideas and beliefs to the girl. It was something best done in small steps, and Brenna was likely to understand if it were done correctly. Brenna wasn't blind to the humans' capacity for evil, even though she was one. Demona watched the girl talking about something her friends said at lunch, but she wasn't really listening today. It was a bit ironic that months of trying to explain to Angela had gotten nowhere, but Demona really believed that it wouldn't take long to get Brenna to understand. Not really. Angela was too much like her father, and somehow… Brenna was more like Demona. Demona would be able to get through to this girl. She just needed time. Time that this problem with Maza might rob her of.

"Brenna, did you ever decide on what you'd use for a topic in your U.S. History class?" Demona asked a bit innocently while watching the girl. The momentary look of guilt answered the question. Perfect. Demona had to start moving a little faster if she wanted to ensure that Brenna would listen to her once the clan told the girl of her past. "You could study the Japanese internment camps during World War 2. That is within the time frame you had to choose from." Demona held in her grin when the girl looked like she'd seriously consider that. The Americans painted themselves as the heroes of that war, but they did their own atrocities, and Brenna would recognize that. The girl already knew about what the Nazi's did, but to see the human's on the good guys side weren't all that perfect would be helpful. Brenna tended to categorize the evil done by humans, it was the rich, or the Nazis, or other groups guilty of crimes she heard about, but once Brenna heard of enough crimes she'd come to the same conclusion that Demona had. It was just the humans, nationality, race, none of that mattered. The entire human race held that capacity for evil. Once Brenna understood that, Demona wouldn't have to worry about this child turning her back on Demona because she'd tried to do something about it.

One thing Demona liked about Brenna is she needed little guidance to see the world as it really was. She'd already started to recognize the truth before Demona had even met her. Demona felt a pang of regret, wishing Angela had that quality, that understanding, that insight.

********

Brenna sat in front of the T.V. pretending to watch the show, but the conversation earlier still bothered her. Why would anyone think Dominique was evil, and what was she hiding? Brenna could tell Dominique was purposely not telling her things. If it were just the Detective and Fox that Brenna was supposed to avoid Brenna probably wouldn't wonder about it as much, but the clan including Angela? Brenna knew for a fact that Angela wasn't a bad guy. If Dominique told her that the Detective, or anyone else was the enemy Brenna would believe her, but not Angela. It wasn't making sense.

She heard the gargoyle go upstairs and sighed. Demona was going gliding even though it was raining. If Demona hadn't been so tense today Brenna might have asked her to stay home, but she could understand the need to unwind. Demona glided to calm down.

********

Demona's fist clenched as she raced towards the city. She dodged buildings coming so close that she could feel the grit of the stone scrape her flesh at times, but she didn't slow down or pull away sooner. She needed the risk of pain, physical pain, to push away her fears. She was afraid… and it made her howl in rage. How dare they put her in this position. How dare they make her feel like this?

She had been lonely for so long, and now… "SHE'S MINE!" Demona screamed into the air. She had fought the clan and lost so many times, with plans, goals that turned to ash. She couldn't afford to lose now, and she had no plan. Her entire plan had been to not let anyone find out until it was legal, to keep it quiet until they couldn't ruin it. She'd kept a low profile, didn't steal or do anything that would put her against the clan while she dealt with Brenna and the custody issues. Her barely planned strategy was ruined when she went to talk at the High School. It was clearly that presentation that brought her back into the clan's radar and threatened everything.

Demona's eyes burned red as she recklessly whipped around the next building and then ran up along the Empire state building before turning sharply. She needed to get lost in movement. She'd be able to think more clearly once she got this out of her system.

The bullet passed by her ear, startling her. Demona turned to see a shadowed figure on the rooftop nearby. The same rooftop someone had shot at her from when she'd barely made it home for Brenna to find. Demona quickly dove down and around a building. A menacing grin and glowing eyes were framed by her wind swept hair as she moved quickly and kept low to get closer. A battle, that was what she needed and this fool decided to give it to her. Hopefully he lasted at least long enough to be worth the effort she was making to surprise him.

She soared up quickly and stared down at the man quickly turning his gun towards her. The hunter mask actually startled her for a moment, but she didn't let that show. "Hunter." She growled at him.

"Demon." His voice was cold and determined, but all hunters sounded like that. Demona dodged his bullets while studying him and noticed the armor wasn't the same as before. It was metal, like an exosuit. This human might have a jet pack, but she couldn't get around to his back to see it just yet.

"I'd heard you gave up the hunt." She dove behind the air vent and landed. There would be one less hunter come morning, and that was always a good thing.

"Not for you." He spoke coldly, but he wasn't moving from his spot. That was suspicious. Demona glanced down at the ground and noticed the small wires that were meant to trick her. She dug her talons into the vent and kept her feet above the ground without letting him know she'd discovered the trick. "I'm Jason Canmore, and I'm the last human you are going to see." The sizzle from the damp ground made her smirk as she faked a sound of pain, the scream she knew well since she gave it twice a day, even if lately it was into a pillow through gritted teeth so she wouldn't frighten her child.

Electricity. That voltage sounded like it would have incapacitated her if she'd really felt it. "Demon…" The human was starting to move, but he walked slowly, and sounded unsteady. "I watched you kill my father, and Jon… Jon is dead now. I know you had something to do with that." Demona steadied herself and listened carefully for his progress. She needed to hit him quickly once he realized she wasn't on the ground. She could hear very unusually heavy footsteps come closer. He wasn't used to that exosuit yet. Just yet another thing not in his favor. He had to need that exosuit to walk, because Demona knew he had been crippled rather recently.

Her fist shot out and caught him solidly on the face plate of that suit, tossing him backwards. Demona made sure her leap after him cleared the electricity trap as she slashed at anything that looked like they could be controls for that suit. The third bulge in the suit proved to do it, and his legs collapsed tossing him to the ground harshly. "No, it isn't I that will die tonight Hunter." Demona's eyes burned as she kicked the gun away from him. He was sloppy and hunters weren't usually this sloppy. Maybe he wanted her to end his life. She'd been forced into those types of mercy killings for hunters in the past.

He screamed as she grabbed the arm he was moving to aim her way. She'd seen exosuits before and knew they could hold lasers in the arms. She didn't give him a chance to use it as she squeezed and the metal groaned as it gave way to her strength. "Your hunt ends tonight Canmore." Demona growled while ripping her free hand down the back of his suit. He tried to twist out of her grip but she wanted to kill something and he'd do nicely. She ignored the pain of his other exosuit covered arm hitting her back. "Ciao." She told him mockingly while moving to the side of the building. He wasn't able to fly, and he was about to regret that.

The sudden slamming of a body into her startled her and she lost the grip on the hunter, sending that man to the ground as she was painfully shoved into the gritty rooftop, to slide a few feet with the weight of her unseen attacker on top of her. Her attacker leaned on Demona's injured back and Demona screamed in pain. She swung around and caught the attacker on the face hard enough to toss him off of her so she could stand up. Demona moved with the grace of a predator as she did, while keeping both the now seated hunter and… oh, Dammit. Angela. She'd hit Angela. Her daughter had attacked her.

Demona shook the shock off and keep an eye on both of them, prepared to fight if she had to, but fleeing was probably the best option. Regardless of Angela's misconceptions, Demona just didn't want to hurt her daughter. "He's a Hunter, dressed for the hunt. What do you think happened?" Her voice held her irritation. Angela was still standing battle ready, but the girl was nowhere near the warrior Demona was.

Her back ached and she had to grit her teeth and endure the pain as she leapt off the building. His exosuit enhanced his strength to the point that he'd actually hurt her while beating on her trying to get her to let go. The upwind caught her wings, pulling them much tighter than was comfortable. It was time to go home. She could feel a few broken ribs, and wasn't in the mood to dodge buildings while that injured.

Her daughter had actually defended a Hunter. It made Demona feel ill that the girl would do such a thing, it was worse than protecting any other human, because the Hunters existed to solely kill gargoyles.

********

Brenna heard the loud thud upstairs and was on her feet instantly. Demona never landed that heavily. Something was wrong. She took the stairs two at a time as she ran upstairs towards Dominique's bedroom. Images of the blood from the last time she'd found the gargoyle on the floor in there crossed her mind, making her move faster. "Dominique!" Brenna called out while still down the hall.

"I'm fine." Demona called back, but she didn't sound it. Her voice was too tight and pained. Brenna didn’t even stop to knock, she just threw the door opened.

Demona was hunched over the dresser, obviously in pain. Brenna reached over and turned on the overhead light, because the small lamp on that dresser wasn't showing her enough. Demona flinched at the sudden light and Brenna flinched at what she saw. A purple bruise on Demona's back, it was so large and dark. "You're hurt." Brenna took a few steps closer. She hated feeling helpless when Demona came home like this.

"I'm already healing." Demona gritted her teeth when she attempted to stand up straight. Brenna moved quickly to be by her side.

"Bed." Brenna ordered and moved to carefully help support the gargoyle as they walked in that direction. Brenna didn't know what to think about the fact that Demona was letting her take charge like this. "I don't know what to do." She said after helping the gargoyle to gently sit down so she wouldn't jar her side. Maybe Brenna should go into medicine, if Demona was going to keep coming home every few weeks looking like she lost a fight.

"I'll be fine in a little while." Demona gave Brenna a slight smile while reaching out to caress her hair. "If you really feel like you need to do something I could use something to eat. Healing uses up energy, and I'll need food."

Cooking. Good, Brenna could do that. "What do you want?" Brenna stood up, ready to run out and get to work as soon as she had the information.

"Something with protein. It helps more."

"Okay." Brenna nodded and moved to leave. She stopped before leaving and turned back. Her voice quiet, soft. "I hate seeing you get hurt."

"I know." Demona sighed. Brenna gave Demona a questioning look, but the gargoyle just moved to lay back on the bed carefully to rest. There was more wrong than just the physical damage. Something was really bothering her, and she wasn't going to tell Brenna what it was.

********

Elisa marched into the castle quickly. The clan had called her and told her about Jason's close call with Demona.

"He was dressed for a hunt. She might have actually been defending herself." Angela's voice carried into the hall. Elisa just shook her head. She really didn't envy Angela the pain of having Demona for a mother. "But she was going to kill him, I had to stop her."

"Where is he now?" Elisa demanded as she stepped into the room.

"The hospital. He had some cuts and I was worried his arm might be broken." Elisa grimaced. He was still in legal trouble for the attack on the police station, and it was only his injury that kept him from going to prison. He'd just proven he was still a threat.

"He was wearing an exosuit." Angela stared at Elisa. "I left it on him." On purpose, that was the unspoken message. Angela knew it would get him into trouble, but the girl still held a bit of a grudge. At least it wasn't so bad that she'd left Demona to kill him. Angela wasn't like that. "That rooftop was a trap. He was actively hunting again."

"I'm going to go check on him." Elisa told the others before turning to leave. The courts didn't think they'd need to monitor him too hard since he was wheelchair bound, but he'd at the very least get a monitoring bracelet and house arrest this time. Those exosuits have weaponry, and he wasn't allowed to have that. Elisa needed to find out why he did something so incredibly stupid.

********

Demona carefully rolled over and stared at the sleeping human in her bed. Brenna had refused to leave her alone, in case she needed help going to the bathroom or something. Brenna had cooked, cleaned up afterwards, and coddled Demona like she was an invalid. Demona would have protested even harder than she had, if she hadn't noticed the helpless look in Brenna's eyes. The girl knew that this injury wouldn't kill Demona, but the mere fact that Demona was in pain hurt and worried Brenna.

Demona was now glad she'd never let the girl see her transformations. Brenna really was a sensitive girl. Demona reached out, with only a mild twinge of discomfort to remind her that she'd been injured that night. She caressed the hair that was actually growing relatively quickly on the side of Brenna's head. The girl would need a haircut to make it blend, but she'd look relatively normal come the court date. This human child would be her daughter. Demona felt some satisfaction in knowing she wouldn't let anyone stop that. This remarkable girl would be hers, regardless of what it took to make that happen.

********

"Gregory, I want to go shopping." Brenna told him as she walked towards the limo. He still parked it a block away so that it didn't look like she was showing off. She was going to get her Mother's day gift for her mother taken care of now, she only had a week left until then.

"Yes Ms. McCullen." Gregory smiled at her a little playfully while holding open the limo door. "Where would you like to shop?"

"We could start at Lynati's Flowers." Brenna's voice lost the brief command tone as she tried to think this out. She would order some flowers to be ready for pick up next weekend. All her mother's favorites.

********

Elisa noticed the man Fox had trailing after Brenna as she easily pulled out behind the limo. She had a little time to kill and thought she could try to get a better handle on the girl. The reports didn’t tell her enough.

When the limo stopped in front of a flower shop, Elisa pulled over and decided that now was a good time to check out the selection. Mother's day was right around the corner after all. She walked past the man standing by the limo waiting for the girl's return and into the store.

"Can you make special orders?" She could hear Brenna's voice asking the woman behind the counter.

"We do, but we need a few days leeway."

"Oh, that's okay." Elisa slipped behind an aisle and continued to listen. "I need it for next weekend."

"Ah, for your mom?" The woman smiled at Brenna and Elisa almost winced for the girl.

"Yeah." Brenna's voice was weak, a touch fragile.

"Well, let me grab an order form." The woman started looking around in the counter, but after a moment it was clear she wasn't finding what she wanted. "Oh, empty." Elisa watched the woman hold up a tablet without any more order forms on it. "Wait here honey. I'll get another one out of the back room. Feel free to look around, maybe you'll see something she'll like."

Elisa watched Brenna just stand there a bit awkwardly with her hands in her pockets. The girl barely glanced around.

"Can I help you find anything?" The shop owner's voice startled Elisa. She glanced over at the woman. Elisa wasn't really planning on shopping. She was just following Brenna.

"Oh no, I'm fine." Elisa then turned back to the aisle she was in front of and pretended to be checking out the bouquets there. She could see the salesperson that was with Brenna returning. "Actually." Elisa glanced over at the woman next to her. The girl was looking through her wallet trying to see how much money she had before they started ordering, and Elisa couldn't bear to think that Brenna was trying to afford a nice bouquet for her mother's grave. Flowers were more expensive than Brenna probably realized. "I need to talk to you." Elisa gestured over to the girl. She could already see the fact she had to prepay for her order had put a hamper in Brenna's plans. The girl wasn't looking too happy. "That girl is trying to buy a bouquet for her mother's grave. I want to help her out with that, but she can't know."

"Oh." The shop owner's eyes widened a little. "I… let me take care of that." Elisa watched the shop owner walk up to the salesperson and whisper in her ear. She then took the order form from the woman's hand and smiled at Brenna. "It's past Sonique's break time. I hope you don't mind me taking over."

"No that's fine." Brenna moved closer to the counter and Elisa moved to watch the woman lean down and cut part of the order form away out of Brenna's line of sight, probably the part with the prices. She then stood up and placed it on the counter.

"Well, let's see what you'd like." Elisa watched as the shop owner explained what each flower was to Brenna and decided that she would definitely be shopping here for Mother's day as well. Brenna picked out what she wanted a bit hesitantly, glancing obviously at her wallet. She was worried it would be too much. The only hint she ever gave that her mother was dead was once saying something in the past tense about the woman having loved lilies.

"How much would that be?" Brenna looked up at the shopkeeper. The bell on the shop door went off and Elisa pulled back out of sight as she saw Demona's driver enter the shop.

"Brenna." He came closer to the girl. "Is everything alright? It's been a while."

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just picking." Brenna gave him a weak smile.

"Alright. I'll just be outside." He nodded and stepped back outside. Was he supposed to be Brenna's guard or bodyguard?

"Well, that will be…" The shopkeeper glanced into Brenna's wallet for a moment when the girl's attention was on the driver leaving. "Twenty dollars."

"Really?" Brenna turned to look at the woman, clearly a bit disbelieving.

"Some of the flowers you chose were actually on sale." Elisa watched the woman lie smoothly. Not bad. "And you ordered enough days in advance to get the discount price."

"How many flowers will this be?" Brenna nibbled on her lip. "I…"

"It should be near the size of that one." The shop owner pointed to a rather large bouquet on display. Elisa felt a small smile touch her lips at the pleased look on Brenna's face. The girl deserved a break. Her luck had been rather crappy this year.

Elisa waited until the girl left before walking up to the register. "So how much?"

The shopkeeper was still doing math. "I'm giving you this at cost. Just give me a minute to figure this out."

While the woman was still figuring out the bill Elisa glanced out the window at the leaving limo. Brenna didn't seem as nervous and scared as Elisa imagined a kid living with Demona would be.

********

Brenna just needed to figure out what to get Dominique now. She'd have to wait until payday next week before she shopped for her, but the woman did deserve a present. Brenna had decided that her mother would understand. Dominique was working so hard to keep Brenna and had done so much for her. The woman was family and Brenna wanted to get her something. It was just hard to figure out what to get her.

********

"Well, we have been busy." Fox said as she sat back in her chair. "We know where she's living, and that she has a relatively set schedule. Brenna gets to school early so that Demona isn't late for work, has a little time before she has to be at NightStone so occasionally she'll stop to shop or go to the library before going in, and they sometimes go out to dinner, but are always home before dark." Fox was staring at her nails, checking out her manicure. That irritated Elisa a bit. "My people can't see the mansion from the street, but that's to be expected. She's scheduled to see a social worker once every two weeks until the court date."

"I specifically asked my people to look for any signs of abuse, or any indication that Brenna was in any danger." Fox stopped with studying her fingers and leaned forward staring at Elisa. "They don’t see anything. Demona will yell and rant at her other employees, waitresses, salespeople, but she doesn't yell at Brenna."

"At least not in public." Elisa grumbled as she pulled out the sheet with the girls address on it. Nice neighborhood. "With the social workers keeping tabs on a regular basis maybe she's keeping things relatively normal."

"There is one thing. Brenna has mentioned to her friends that she sometimes stays up late watching movies with Demona." Fox spoke a little more slowly and Elisa looked up into the eyes staring back at hers.

"Either Brenna's lying or she knows Demona's a gargoyle."

********

The weather was nice, no hint of rain, but it was early morning and it was still rather cool. Demona made sure that Brenna took a coat with her. Even though she didn't understand the need the girl felt to torture herself like this, she wasn't about to tell Brenna she couldn't do this. The bouquet was in the back seat of Demona's car, while the girl sat quietly in the front seat staring out at the trees as they passed by. It was still early in the day. Brenna had insisted that she wanted to do this early, she'd always given her mother her gift early in the day.

The woman was dead and yet she still had this level of devotion from Brenna. The girl was tired, and Demona had offered to let her sleep longer, but Brenna still got up.

Brenna looked pale, sad. "I'm sure she'll like the flowers. They are beautiful." Demona spoke just to interrupt the silence and remind Brenna she wasn't alone. She didn't really think the dead cared about things like flowers.

Demona had actually asked one of her employees about this need to visit the grave so often. She'd worried that every month they'd be here. It was a useless ritual that ate up time that her and Brenna could be doing other things. Alice told her that eventually the girl wouldn't feel the need to visit so often, but that holidays tended to see more people in the graveyards. Demona decided that she'd just continue to cater to this need of Brenna's until the girl no longer needed it.

She got out and walked around the car while Brenna was still slowly getting out. Her reluctance was clear in her slow movements, whereas Demona just wanted to get this over with and get Brenna home. She helped Brenna pull on the stubborn sleeve and made sure the collar was sitting right.

"Come with me." Brenna spoke softly. Demona blinked at that. She'd planned to wait by the car until it looked like Brenna needed her, or until it was time to leave. This seemed personal to the humans. "Please."

"Okay." Demona was then led up the hill by the hand. They stopped a few feet from Candace's grave. Her secretary. Demona had never had to think of the death of any human as much as she'd been forced to think about the death of this one. Hopefully that wouldn't last too much longer.

"I got you all your favorite flowers." Brenna spoke to the lifeless stone. The girl kneeled down and placed the bouquet in front of the headstone. They'd only rot here, with no one to enjoy them. "I'm doing okay." Demona felt a bit awkward standing here quietly waiting for Brenna to finish talking to the dead. "I love you." There the tears started. Demona clenched her fists. These visits served no purpose but to cause the girl pain. Brenna stood taller with an effort. "I'm not alone. Dominique is going to adopt me." A watery smile crossed Brenna's face and Demona found herself staring at the girl. She'd wanted Demona here for this. "She cares… and no I don't think hell froze over." Apparently Candace was among the employees that didn't think she was capable of caring for anyone. She'd heard those discussions before at NightStone, but they'd never bothered her before. Somehow today it did. "I love you mommy, but…" Brenna took a deep breath. "she's my family now too." Brenna glanced back at her and Demona felt that although the girl was addressing her mother, she was really talking to her. "I'm gonna be a Destine."

"You don't have to change your name Brenna." Demona took a step closer. Names were important to humans. They used them to define themselves and others. "I wouldn't ask that of you."

"But I can have it if I want it?" Brenna was staring at her with a real intensity. The answer was important to her.

"Yes…" Demona's voice dropped. "It isn't a family name Brenna. I made it up. I'm not even French, I just lived there a long time."

"What are you?" Brenna asked. Nationality didn't really mean that much to her, but Demona smiled.

"I'm Scottish, like you." Brenna was Scottish-American, but the girl smiled at that. Brenna liked having things in common.

"You can have it if you want, but think about it." Demona moved closer and caressed Brenna's hair. "Human's put more value on names than gargoyles do."

Brenna looked a bit embarrassed that her grand gesture hadn't been jumped at. "I love that you would be willing to take my name." Demona spoke softly, and it wasn't a lie. The girl was offering to be family, clan, in a formal way. Demona remembered angrily telling Angela that humans had no place in a gargoyle clan, but looking at this girl who was willing to let go of part of her own identity for that, she wasn't willing to put Brenna in the same category. Brenna belonged in a clan, Demona's clan.

Once that was cleared up they stood in silence for a few moments, while Brenna just stared at the flowers she'd brought her mother. Brenna wasn't ready to give up her mother's name, if Demona really thought that Brenna was she would have just accepted the offer. Having her last name would strengthen her hold on the girl. Maybe by August Brenna would truly be ready. They didn't need to make these decisions until then.

********

Brenna followed Dominique to the car. She'd been nervous and nearly sick before she mentioned her plan to change her name. A large part of her was glad that she wasn't going to be forced to follow through on that.

Brenna fingered the gift in her pocket, but she didn't want to give that to Dominique here. It needed to be separate from what she'd done for her mother.

"Can we eat breakfast at a restaurant?" Brenna asked while they were getting in the car. Brenna had wanted to do her mother's gift first thing, before eating, like they always used to, but now she was hungry. Still, as they drove away she stared out the window towards the hill. She couldn't help but remember going out to eat with her mother last year, and the fun they'd had at the mall afterwards.

"Alright." Dominique gave her a brief smile and pulled out of the cemetery. Brenna would have to think of something other than shopping to do with Dominique today, but she wanted to do something. Mother's Day shopping though, that was something that was just for her real mother.

********

Demona watched as Brenna fidgeted nervously while they waited for their meal to be brought to them. "What is it?" She finally snapped, although with less venom than normal.

Brenna blushed and nibbled on her lip. It was something. "Umm…" Demona watched as the girl's hand once again slipped into her coat pocket, but this time she wasn't wearing it at the time. "Nothing." The hand slid back out, but not before Demona caught a glimpse of a… bow?

"Okay." She spoke softly and made sure Brenna didn't see where her eyes had followed. The girl wasn't good at subterfuge. She had a gift. Demona found that she was both stunned and pleased. It was for her. Brenna had gotten her a mother's day gift. She'd give the girl time to work up whatever courage she felt she needed to so that she could present the gift.

Breakfast went by relatively quietly. Brenna was deep in thought and Demona was similarly afflicted. She was pleased a human considered her mother material? Part of her felt disgusted that she felt this bond with a human, while her own real daughter hated her.

"You know… I…" Brenna started to stammer a bit and her suddenly speaking startled Demona a little. She looked up at the flustered girl. "I'm really glad you took me in." The girl's eyes were glassy. "I…" Demona watched the girl's hands on the table clench as she looked down. "I love you." Brenna whispered it. "In a family way." Demona felt a smirk she tried to conceal as Brenna quickly qualified that comment while blushing.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the waitress returning and moved to wave her away while staring at the girl in front of her. This was a serious moment that didn't need to be interrupted. Lucky for that waitress she recognized that. "Brenna…" Demona stared at the suddenly vulnerable looking girl. Dammit, she was going to have to say it. Her voice dropped so that just the girl would be able to hear. "I love you too. I'll be very proud to have you as a daughter." Her own eyes widened in concern when she noticed a tear fall from Brenna's eye shortly after that. She really thought that was the right thing to say.

"I… I got you something." The hand dipped into the pocket again. "It isn't much." Brenna looked into her eyes as she handed over a small present. "I… would have liked to get you more."

"I'm sure it's just fine." Demona wasn't really used to proper gift getting manners. She hadn't gotten gifts like this often. In fact since the time of her second clans death, it was just Thailog that had given her a gift, but it was all lies there. This girl seemed incapable of lying about her feelings. While Demona valued the ability to hide such things, she found herself relieved that this time the person in her life was such an open book. There would be no suddenly unexpected betrayals from this one.

Brenna watched her so intently as she unwrapped the small box and opened it. Seated in a bed of cotton was a black string necklace attached to a pendant. Demona picked it up out of the box and brought it closer to her eyes. It was a round pendant, with many symbols on it. A triangle cut the circle in parts and a sun sat in the center of the piece.

"It's supposed to grant safety on journeys." Brenna spoke quietly. An amulet that the humans sometimes claimed had real magic. A protection amulet. Demona blinked as she stared at it again. It held no real power, but that the girl found this for her. It couldn't have been easy to find. Apparently she'd come home damaged one too many times, and Brenna was concerned about her.

"It's beautiful." Demona smiled at Brenna and notice the girl seem to finally breath. It was an attractive piece of jewelry if nothing else. Demona picked it up by the necklace and slipped it over her head. The amulet fell over her heart, and Demona felt it to make sure it was face out.

Her shirt would cover it while at work, but with something like this, Brenna probably wanted her to always wear it. "I like it." Demona smiled at the girl. "Thank you." Maybe she'd explain about real magic and new age pseudo magic to the girl some day, but not today.