Restaurant

After they had looked over the house, they got back in the car and headed out. It took a while before Brooke noticed that they were not headed back to her apartment.

"What are you taking us now?"

"I thought I'd treat the two of you to dinner before calling it a day."

Rowen's eyes lit up and she moved forward to lean against Brooke's seat, her attention on Austin.

"Does where we're going have good food?"

Detective Austin chuckled, "It'll have what you're looking for."

The restaurant that they ended up at was a steakhouse called Sirloin Palace. It was located in a nice area, several steps above fast food but still low enough that the average person could afford it. No one looked at them oddly when they walked in, dressed casual.

Brooke had never been to this particular restaurant, she tended to frequent the fast food joints more often. Her choice to not become a witch had strained the relationship with her mother and older brother, while her father was simply lost in his own world most of the time. Her job kept her too busy to make friends, so hitting a drive-thru on the way home was easier than eating out.

"Seating for three?"

A waitress wearing a knee length black skirt and a white button-up shirt greeted them with a smile and friendly tone of voice. Her hair was light pink and pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes were a shade of fluorescent green that almost seemed to glow. Her name tag identified her as 'Kandy.'

"Yes."

Austin answered her question and they followed her to a booth about halfway through the restaurant. They sat down and Kandy placed a menu on the table in front of them.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Ooh, I want a sweet tea!"

"I'll take a sweet tea as well."

"Water is fine." Brooke shrugged when Rowen and Austin looked at her. She just was not in the mood for anything else, and restaurants always overcharge for their drinks.

"Ok. I'll be right back with those."

Rowen had already picked up the menu and was looking through it when Kandy left to get their drinks. Brooke picked up hers and scanned it. She cringed inwardly at the prices and felt the urge to leave.

"You know, you really don't have to do this."

"Maybe, but I am, so just enjoy it."

Brooke let out a sigh and looked back over the menu again, deciding on the cheapest thing on the menu: burger and fries. She noticed that Austin had not picked up his menu, he smiled when he noticed Brooke looking at the menu.

"I come here enough that I already know what I want."

"Ahh! It says that they can do rare. I'm definitely getting that."

Austin tapped his menu on the table and looked at Rowen, "That's why I thought you'd like it here. It'll also give Mullins an idea of what your diet needs will be."

Brooke grimaced visibly 'raw' and 'diet needs' did not sound like fun to her. Just then Kandy reappeared and placed their drinks on the table.

"Are you guys ready to order or would you like more time?"

"No, I think we're ready." Austin glanced at Brooke and Rowen and they nodded in response. "I want the steak meal, medium well, with a baked potato."

Kandy made an agreeing sound as she wrote on her notepad then turned to look at the other two.

"I want a steak, just the steak, two of them. I also want both of them to be blue rare. Like, super rare, could start mooing rare."

Rowen's lips were raised in a grin that lit up her whole face as she spoke. Brooke could almost see the kid that she had been before, a kid who matched the room she had seen earlier.

"I want the burger and fries."

"Alright, I'll get these to the kitchen."

Kandy picked up their menus and left with their orders. The trio tried, and failed, at small talk while waiting for their food. Rowen's food was the first to arrive. Brooke had to look away when the steak was cut into and she caught sight of just how rare it was.

"Mmm, this is amazing…"

The rest of the food arrived while Rowen enjoyed her food. Brooke struggled with eating, the knowledge that Rowen's steak was raw enough it practically bled when cut unsettled her stomach.

"Demons were made to eat meat straight from the source. Anything but meat tends to not be digestible. Which is why you'll never see a summoned demon eat any vegetables. Some have a few fruits that they will eat, and they tend to have a sweet tooth."

Austin spoke as he cut his steak, then took a bite.

"How does that affect Rowen?"

"Because of how our souls fused, my body is changing." Rowen shoved a rather large cut of raw meat into her mouth and chewed it loudly. "I could probably eat vegetables, but just looking at them disgusts me. The hospital food was terrible and I was half starved."

Rowen shuddered and shoved another piece of meat into her mouth. Brooke looked at her own food and decided that she was getting it to go.

"So that means Rowen will need to eat like she is a demon. That also means that, even though she can eat cooked meat, she will not get the needed nutrients if the meat isn't raw. At least one meal a day with raw meat or it'll affect her health."

When Rowen and Austin were finished eating Brooke got a to-go box and put her food in it. By the time they returned to her apartment Rowen had fallen asleep. Austin carried her inside with Brooke leading the way, though she took a quick detour to grab Rowen's laptop from her car.

Inside her small, one-bedroom apartment, she had Austin put Rowen on her bed.

"When I went to her house today and saw her room I had a hard time placing the girl I knew in it. Until the restaurant. It was like a small piece of the girl she was before showed through."

"Trauma has a way of changing people."

Brooke was leaning against the couch when Austin walked into the living room. The apartment was small enough that the living room and kitchen were basically one room, the bathroom was across the bedroom in a small hallway.

"There is this show that's fairly popular right now, Magical Guardian Princesses. It's about four mages, an all girl team. It's a lot of glitter, stars and silly spell names. Rowen's room was full of stuff from this show; posters, comic books, action figures. Her damn room was painted pink with glowing stars on the ceiling.

"She had a fucking teddy bear on her bed and a closet full of pink and purple dresses. Those bastards, whoever they are, took an innocent kid and destroyed her life. We can't let them get away with that."

Austin moved to lean against the couch next to Brooke, arms crossed.

"I'm in full agreement. I wish it was an easy thing, just the snap of my fingers and we knew what all had gone down and the people involved were locked away. Unfortunately, real life doesn't work like that and we may never be able to give her that closure."

Brooke sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "When I decided to be a cop I wanted to help people, but most days all I feel like I do is clean up messes."

"Because that's what we do, more or less. We're not called in before a crime happens, we're called in after everything has happened. It's up to us to try and find justice for the victims and make certain that the perpetrators face the consequences of their actions.

"If we can't do that, then at least we can help the victims gain back as close to a normal life as possible. That's what we're going to give Rowen. What's done to her can't be undone. Her soul and the demon's have fused together and nothing will change that. It is as much a victim as her, if you really think about it. Gabriel is stuck in the body of a fifteen year old girl."

Brooke turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. "That's surprising, coming from you. I didn't think you were a fan of demons."

"I don't like them, I've seen how deals can ruin a life, but I also understand that the humans involved are just as responsible. It's why I'm a licensed Summoner, but not a practicing one. None of that stops me from seeing the whole picture with Rowen and Gabriel."

Detective Austin pushed away from the couch and started to walk toward the front door.

"Try and get some rest. I'll be back in the morning to pick her up for the meeting with the headmaster."

Brooke stared at the door long after he had gone. After a while she finally moved and turned off all the lights and laid down on the couch. She used the blanket that had been laid across the back of the couch to cover up with.

It was not uncommon for her to end up sleeping on the couch. Some nights she would be so wore out that she would pass out on the couch while watching tv.