Stolen Hearts

by Penemuel

Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell.
--William Shakespeare, MacBeth

Derek sat at his desk, waiting for Sloan's appearance on the screen. The person who had answered his call had seemed rather upset about having to go wake his Precept at such an ungodly hour, but when Derek told him Sloan himself had insisted he call no matter what time, he rolled his eyes and said, "I'll go get him then..." Derek wasn't certain, but he thought he heard a muttered comment about "Damned San Francisco House, full of lunatics..." as the man walked out of the room.

A few minutes later Sloan appeared on-screen, dressed in pajamas and a robe, looking as if he had been sitting up waiting for the call. "Ah, Derek," he said lightly, a smile curling his lips but not reaching his eyes, "I was wondering if I was going to hear from you any time soon...Nick said you were -- sleeping it off..."

"So I was, William," Derek answered calmly. This was a game he was used to, but he certainly did not enjoy it... "I was rather heavily drugged, and needed time to get rid of the hangover."

"Yes, so I understand," Sloan answered, looking aside at something Derek couldn't quite make out, "Numerous herbal compounds, opiates, MDMA, and some substance no test has been able to identify yet," he read from the hidden papers. "I understand Rachel thinks we're lucky you didn't die from an overdose..." he continued, looking back at Derek.

Derek frowned slightly. Sloan's expression was still pleasant but his eyes had hardened even further, and Derek could read the challenge quite plainly. "Yes, she mentioned that. I didn't exactly *ask* him to drug me, William. As a matter of fact, if I'm not mistaken, that combination of drugs should have been rather detrimental to the activity we were...engaging in. All I can figure is that the herbal compounds and this unknown substance counteracted that specific effect of the narcotics..."

"Either that, or the spell," Sloan ventured, carefully studying Derek's reaction.

Derek's brow creased momentarily, just long enough to betray his discomfort to Sloan, then smoothed as he schooled his expression. "Yes, the spell. From what we can figure, he was trying to awaken my angelic side..."

"Yes; using a scroll he bought from a dig worker in Qumran -- who, by the way, was later found murdered," Sloan said quietly. "Derek, why on earth would you take that kind of risk? You *know* what Victor Arkadi's capable of..."

"Yes, William, I know full well what he's capable of, which is why I had to get Philip away from him. If they already told you about the scroll and the spell, then I'm *sure* they also told you what happened to him," Derek said, unable to keep the irritation from his voice now.

"Yes. Nick -- and Rachel," Sloan said, finally showing Derek the sheaf of faxes he had been reading from, "gave me full reports. I know what he was doing to Philip."

"Then you know I--"

"Derek," Sloan cut in firmly, "we *discussed* this kind of thing when your sister was kidnapped. We can't afford to give in to that kind of demand because of personal feelings. Cold as it may sound, you should never have risked yourself for him."

Derek shook his head and said, "It was *nothing* like the situation with Ingrid, William. Angeline wanted an *artifact* that could have given her and her followers eternal life in service of the dark side. All Victor would have gotten was *me*."

Sloan frowned -- the first *true* expression Derek had seen from him since the call began -- and asked, "And exactly what do you think he planned to do with *you* if he had been successful, Derek?" "I suspect, more likely, that he would have used you as a weapon against the Legacy -- and a more powerful one since you would have whatever abilities the Nephilim have," Sloan answered angrily. "We already *know* from the letters he tried to send to your father that he planned to use you against the Legacy."

"Yes, I guess we do," Derek answered, "although 'we' would have probably been better off if *someone* had seen fit to share that information when it was first discovered, instead of hiding the letter away..." His brow creased darkly and he continued, "Just how many letters were there, William? Did they all have photos? What did you *do* with the rest of them?"

"Derek," Sloan said tiredly, "We already discussed why no one warned you -- you wouldn't have listened to a member of the Legacy anyway. I'm sorry he hurt you -- I'm sorry he was using you -- but it's too late to do anything about it now..."

"And the other letters, other photos?" Derek pressed, well aware of the fact that Sloan had skipped over that part of his accusation.

"I didn't receive them," Sloan answered softly, "They were sent directly to the Ruling House. I -- inherited them from my predecessor, Sir Edmond Tremaine..."

Sloan watched as the colour drained from Derek's face. Derek swallowed convulsively and asked, "Sir Edmond *knew*?"

When Sloan nodded, Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Unbidden, memories rose in his mind's eye and he remembered what the previous Ruling Precept had told him when he was before the Legacy Tribunal for suspected collusion with the dark side: "I'm glad your father's not alive to see what's become of his son -- how wounded he would have been..." His thoughts whirled chaotically -- did that mean that Sir Edmond had assumed he was evil *because* of his relationship with Arkadi? If that was the case, then the ex-Precept most likely still suspected him; why had nothing further been said? After all, Sir Edmond was *still* a member of the Legacy, he had just been transferred to another House...

A deep sense of foreboding settled over him and he shivered slightly, lost in thought until Sloan's voice startled him out of it again.

"Derek, are you all right?" the London Precept repeated, worried that perhaps Derek had not recovered enough from his experience after all.

"I-- ah -- I'm sorry, William," Derek answered, shaking himself back to alertness. "I suspect it's going to take a little while to shake off the full effect of the drugs..."

"Of course," Sloan said, "I won't keep you too much longer..." He would let Derek off the hook for now, but sooner or later they would have to deal with this again. "About the scroll Arkadi got the spell from; we've put a couple of people from Cairo House on the dig at Qumran. They'll alert us as soon as he shows up."

"Might be a good idea to see if they can find the missing fragments of the scroll *before* he gets there," Derek suggested.

"Yes," Sloan agreed, "They'll be trying to locate it, but you know as well as I do how difficult that could be. And if it came from the twelfth cave they way Philip suspects it did, they'll have a hard time getting in there without exposing the regular archaeologists to potential danger..."

"Ah -- so Philip suspects it came from the twelfth cave," Derek mused. "That explains my susceptibility to it..."

"That's what Nick's report suggests," Sloan explained, "since you've already fallen under the influence of something from that cave..."

"Don't remind me," Derek said with a grimace. Then he took a deep breath and said, "Philip's left to do some soul-searching -- with everything that's happened, he's got a lot to think about. I'm afraid his ordeal may have driven him away from me..."

"I don't think that will happen," Sloan reassured him, "although he definitely *will* need some time to deal with both Arkadi's assault on him *and* his tangle with that angel..." He glanced down at the faxes again and added, "Nick says Philip stood up to him and managed to send him away..."

"Ja -- it was Semjaza, the co-leader of the Watchers...I believe he helped Victor find the spell scroll *and* told him how to use it..." He shivered slightly, the sensations from his vision of Arkadi and the Watcher sliding along his nerves for an instant and causing a flare of arousal that he tried desperately to repress. "He seems to want me to join them," he murmured softly. "I think it may very well be possible to use me as bait to lure them in; but considering the consequences should something go wrong...I can't do this, William. This is one risk I don't think I'm willing to take for the Legacy."

"That's okay, Derek, now that I understand the danger, I would never ask it of you. The thought of someone who knows as much as you do about the Legacy, working for the dark side is a bit more than I'm willing to deal with..."

"Thanks for the concern," Derek muttered wryly, earning himself an apologetic look before Sloan continued.

"Look, Derek, this whole incident -- there are things we *need* to discuss. I'm going to be heading back out there as soon as I can get matters cleared up here," Sloan said. He paused to look around, making sure no one else was present, then asked, "*Are* you all right, Derek?"

There was honest concern in his tone, and Derek sighed and shrugged as he answered. "I don't really know, William...Because of the -- condition -- they found me in, Rachel wants me to get counseling. *I* see no reason for it -- I'm tired of people thinking there's something *wrong* with me because of it; tired of having to justify my tastes...I'm worried about how my friends will react, now that they know this much about me..."

"Derek," Sloan said quietly, "if they're really your friends they won't judge you -- you *know* that."

"Ja, you're right, William," Derek answered, "I'll be fine -- I just need a little time for this to blow over..."

"You're sure?" Sloan asked, genuinely concerned about his friend. No matter how much Derek *said* he was all right, he would worry until they could speak again, face-to-face.

When Derek nodded again, he sighed and said, "Okay, Derek; I'll finish things up here, then fly back there for a little talk. Don't think this lets you off the hook, though -- I *do* still want to discuss your -- lack of prompt reports, among other things."

"I never doubted it for a moment," Derek answered. "Go to sleep, William, I'll see you soon..."

--==**==--

To be concluded in part 18

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