Returning home...
Gil stepped out of the police car, giving the officer inside a pale smile and thanking him for the ride home. He was left there on the curb, feeling... not very safe at all. What if she found him here too? What if she came here and…? No, best not think about that. He just wanted to be home.
So Gil went up to the house, used his key to open the door, stepped inside... And locked the door behind him as firmly as he possibly could.
Lorne had been sitting in the living room, Mishu firmly in his lap. She'd gotten quite big over the last few months and had gotten heavy too. He called out, “Gil? Is that you?”
He startled a little bit, jumpy just then. “Yes, yes it's me... I... just got back. I didn't get any of the things I was supposed to, I'm... awfully sorry. But I got a good reason...” He stepped into the living room, slowly “I’ve got a very good reason.”
Before he could say anything, Mishu was off and jumping up on Gil. “What happened, Gil?”
Gil sat down right there, hugged Mishu tight and buried his face in her fur. “I thought I'd never see you again!” She let him do that for a moment before struggling free to lick his face again.
Carefully getting up, Lorne walked over to Gil and crouched down next to him. “What do you mean? What happened?”
Gil pushed Mishu away gently and reached out for Lorne instead, latching arms around his neck. “I've been so stupid, I don't know what to do and... I thought I'd never see you either and... and... I love you and… I don't want to die!” The words rushed out of him.
Wrapping his arms around Gil, Lorne gently patted his back. “Shh, its okay, you're alive. You're back here and I'll help however I can. However, you need to tell me what happened. What caused this?”
“I was at the mall and... Lilah attacked me, only it wasn't Lilah, it was Eyghon and I ran, but she found me and grabbed me and tried to kill me!” He whimpered, thinking about what happened. The look in her eyes and how her face changed… He’d probably have nightmares about that for a long time to come.
“Lilah? That...” Lorne had promised himself that he'd think better of the woman, she'd been trapped by Wolfram and Hart, and didn’t say what he meant to say at first. “Eyghon? Who is Eyghon? Why would they, it... she want to kill you?”
He tried to calm down a bit, hugged Lorne a little tighter to be sure that he was really there. “Lets... Lets sit down on the sofa instead and I'll tell you the story, all right?” He finally says, knowing that Lorne has to hear this.
He let go and moved over to the sofa instead, waiting until Lorne joined him before starting the story. “While I was with Ethan... we did a summoning one night. Not just me and him, but Lilah, Giles, Frank and Red as well. Well... it worked. We... summoned a demon, Eyghon.”
Lorne listened, nodding his head as Gil spoke. “You summoned a demon? Do you know what kind of demon it was? What its beliefs are? Why it attacked you now?”
“Eyghon is called the sleeper, I think... At least it enters people who are asleep, possesses them. And gives them a rush of power. It did that night, entered Giles. It was there for a moment and then we... you know... unsummoned it.” Gil spoke quietly, looking down at his hands and not up at Lorne.
“I'm not... I don't know why it attacked me. Or what it believes. It said that... no one could handle it.”
“Why did you summon it in the first place?”
“Ethan thought it would be fun and he said that it was going to be easy. But I'm not blaming him or... anything... I'm sure he didn't know it was going to happen.” His hands shook a little and he grabbed one with the other, keeping them steady. “He said it would be fun and a rush and... it was, just then.”
Lorne reached out and took Gil's hands into his own. “But now this demon is hurting people, right?”
Gil nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. “...Yes... But it was after me, it got Lilah... Maybe it's only after the people who were there, at the summoning.”
“How would it know that you were there? Did you do something before hand, or during as preparation for the summoning?”
He freed one hand, rolled up his sleeve and showed the tattoo to Lorne, looking up now. The bruises were showing on his throat as well, his shirt couldn’t hide them. “...Ethan said that we needed these. So that it could find us for the summoning.”
Letting go of Gil's hand, he carefully touched the bruises on Gil's neck. “She strangled you? Have you been to a doctor?” Lorne was more concerned with Gil's immediate injuries; the tattoo could be looked at later.
“Some people scared it off and they took me to a doctor...” He held still, wincing a bit when he was touched. “I just wanted to go home, Lorne. I kept thinking that... It was killing me and I thought about you, I thought that I wouldn't see you again... And that almost hurt worse.”
“You're home now Gil. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help.” He'd been here, wallowing in his own misery, while his friend was out there being attacked. “What did the doctor say?” Lorne only touched the bruises for a moment before removing his hand, knowing that it must hurt.
“He said that I could go, that it would be fine. I need rest and soft food and... He said a lot of things, but I think I focused more on the 'You can go' bit.”
“Soft foods, well, I can make sure you get that.” Lorne tried to smile. “And I do believe you have a puppy at your feet that would be happy to curl up with you. If you want to lie down.”
“...I know... But Lorne, what if it finds me here? What if it finds me and attacks you or Missy? What if... I can't put you in danger like that.” Gil shook his head. “I shouldn't be here.”
“Gil...listen to me. I've been attacked by so many different demons that one more won't be a problem. You are safer here than any where else. This is your home, and you know it. There are weapons here, that you won't be able to find else where, and there is me. I can help.” Lorne took his hand again. “And if you leave, we won't be able to figure out a way to keep you safe, now will we?”
“But... I...” He paused, not really wanting to argue. He didn’t want to leave. Where would he go? He'd have to keep running then... Maybe forever. “I suppose you have a point... Do you really think that we can stop it?”
“I'm sure we can Gil. Demon who has helped to stop the end of the world on several occasions sitting here beside you.” He joked. “Another demon shouldn't be too hard.”
Gil tried to believe that. “If you say so... But I wouldn't blame you if you told me to leave, really... I put you in danger with my own foolishness, I should have known better than to do something like that.”
“Gil, I don't want you to leave. Believe me.” Lorne pulled the other man in for a hug. “You are one of the few bright things in my life. As for foolishness, we've all made mistakes in our lives. I'll have to tell you about my time in LA sometime.”
He hugged him back, closing his eyes and drawing a shaky breath, trying not to cry or anything like that. Lorne was willing to risk this for him; he was always there for him. “Thank you... you're... so amazing and... I just keep making bad choices.”
“We all make bad choices. Trust me.”
“You're right, of course you are.” He just wanted to stay here, with locked doors, hiding with Lorne and Mishu. “But I'm sorry anyway.”
“How about this, we stay in tonight, watch a few movies. Silly movies. Keep Mishu here company and not open that door for anything? How does that sound?”
“I am all for staying in.” Gil gave a very small smile. “Can we watch ‘Sound of music’ again?”
“Why, of course we can!” Lorne grinned. “There is just something about them finding safety.”
“Yes... Yes, I like that scene as well.” Gil tried to forget what had happened, for now. Though the bruises were sure to remind him later. “Let’s watch it now and have ice cream?”
“All right. How about you put it in and I'll get the ice cream.” He smiled again and got up. “I think all we have is the chocolate chip cookie dough and mint chocolate fudge. Which would you like?”
“Both would be perfect.” He gave Lorne another small smile, daring to believe that maybe they'd both be all right. Hoping that they would be.