Dedicated to mybandomfandom 

X • Ryan's POV • X

Why did I get stuck with this job? WHY? Everyone else is guarding the tavern, or on a rescue mission for Kuza, or healing Chris, or on a witch hunt for Death. I get stuck with the worst job though. What is so horrid you ask? Taking care of Angelo. He's so hormonal and whiny! This should be his baby daddy's job, not mine!

Well, mine and Nikki's. I'm on guard duty while Nikki tends to the baby growing inside of him. I understand Chris is a little busy dying and all, but he has the patience to deal with Angelo. I do not, incase you couldn't tell. I wish I was out fighting Shadows, or watching the night sky while protecting the tavern. But no. I'm stuck watching Chris' little side boyfriend.

"Alright, I'm going to go check on the others." Nikki said as he packed up his medical supplies.

My eyes doubled in size. "You're leaving me?"

"Yeah." He scoffed as he reached the door. "Incase you have forgotten, this place is usually a baby ward. There's other mothers-to-be that need me to check on them. Angelo will be fine. He's having some problems with nausea. Stressing out over Chris is making his headaches come and go, but other than that, he'll be fine without me. If his stomach aches get too bad, give him some sugar to settle it. If the headaches get too bad, then come get me."

"But Nikki-" I pouted.

"Ryan, you'll be fine." He insisted upon closing the door.

Thanks a lot, fucker! I know little to nothing about taking care of someone who's expecting. It's rare new creatures are born at the mansion or in the care of the Coven. Chris had to choose NOW of all times to knock someone up. It's not his fault I guess. I'm just being a baby about it because I have no idea how to handle this situation.

"Why don't you want to take care of me?" Angelo asked softly.

I forgot, all his caretakers have pretty much abandon him. Chris left him for another man, TJ betray him. I'm sure it's getting old and painful for him.

"I do." I quietly replied. "I just... I'm scared to. If something goes wrong, I don't have any medical training."

"I'll be okay." He muttered as he readjusted on the bed.

I sat down on the edge of the mattress, giving him the best sympathetic look I could. "I'm sorry everything is falling apart."

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault. It's mine. The Shadows wouldn't have come for us if I stayed in hiding." Angelo said.

"Ange, they would have tried to end the world no matter what. If you stayed in hiding, we probably would have lost Devin and Ricky. You've helped us more than you know."

He huffed. "I don't know anymore."

"I don't either." I sighed, letting the silence fall on us.

It felt so cold tonight. We were all just lost and broken. Even more broken than ever before... I wish we could rewind time an-

"Was that your stomach?" Angelo asked, interrupting my train of thought.

I glanced over at him, hearing my own stomach growl loudly. "I haven't eaten in a while..."

Ange stared at me a moment. Then he finally broke through a form of hysteria, and laughed. Seeing his smile, and feeling a tension break like glass, I started to laugh too. You know things have gotten beyond bad when you just start laughing like madmen.

"Let's go down to the tavern's bar and get some blood." He suggested.

X • Balz's POV • X

Kuza's gargoyles went out looking for him, while Denis' team protected the tavern. Ryan-Ashley and I took Brent, Mikey, and Max out with us to look for Death. Though I doubt we'd be able to be enough to fight one of the most deadliest spirits in all creature mythology, I would like to hope that Ryan-Ashley and I could telepathically aid Ricky in defeating the demon possessing him.

Rarely do I even take her on missions with me, because I'm so scared of her getting hurt. She is my sun and mood, and her eyes are my stars. The thought of her ever getting even a scratch terrifies me. I love her too much. With our ranks spread so thin though, I needed her more than ever. Ryan-Ashley is a very strong telepath, stronger than Devin would be even if he was available. Her talents are one of the many reasons I fell in love with her.

I always am in fear of the Shadows trying to snatch her. I know she can fight well, but, I'm just scared of losing her. Hopefully having three demons with us with keep anything tragic from happening. Max doesn't have wings anymore, so he walked with us as the other two flew overhead. Without Chris or Angelo here to help us locate Ricky/Death, we had no idea where to even begin looking. Angelo told us a general direction, but that's all he could muster before his head started to kill him.

"I think I see something." Brent spoke down to us.

"Where?" Mikey asked him.

Brent pointed out something in the distance. We stopped walking, waiting on them to figure out what it is. Part of the problem with being in a mystic forest is, there are supernatural beings everywhere. We can't easily tell the odd shit from the normal.

"That's definitely him." Brent told us. "I don't know all too much about demonic possession, but I can imagine, his body probably can't take him switching between spirits this much."

"Lead the way." I replied.

Brent and Mikey flew lower to the ground, heading down a narrow path in between the trees. We quickly followed, eventually running to keep up with their speed. I understand that going through this small of a space, it's hard for either of them to stop or slow down. We had to rush to get to Ricky anyways.

The path lead us out to a cove with a small lake. It's water was crystal blue, even glowing. The trees around us were decorated with deep purple leaves. As I looked closer, I saw several pixies hiding in the trees, all terrified of the demon intruding on their land. Demons, now. Ricky was the one that they were truly afraid of.

He had fallen to his knees at the water's edge. His hands were tangled in his hair as he still fought with Death over the control of his body. At this point, I was worried there was no helping him. If we do save Ricky, there's a chance he'll be broken from this. If having a demon possess your body doesn't give you PTSD, I don't know what would. We still had to try.

"I can't stay with the dominant spirit long enough to help him. They keep fighting for control so much, one is only staying in control for a few minutes." Ryan-Ashley told me.

I attempted to enter his mind, realizing she was right. Just as I got ahold of Ricky, Death would take control. If I stayed with Ricky's spirit, I would get pulled down into his subconscious with him. How he was managing to keep fighting Death, I had no idea. He was stronger than I thought.

"I think I had a plan, but it's a shot in the dark." I said.

"It's better than nothing." She responded.

I sighed. "I know. Worth a shot." I motioned towards the three demons, saying, "Grab him, pin him down. I'm thinking, if Death has done the damage I think he has, Ricky's mind is looking a lot like Devin's used to."

"The busted carnival?" Ryan-Ashley asked me.

"Not exactly, just broken." I replied. "I'm going to try to fight Death inside Ricky's subconscious."

"Josh-"

"I'll be fine." I reassured her. "Just stay with Ricky's spirit. Without Ryan here to give us extra energy, we don't have a lot of time. If something goes wrong, get out."

"I'm not leaving you alone in the mind of a madman with a demonic spirit." She insisted.

I sighed, glancing over at Ricky and Death fighting viciously. I signaled the demons to pin him, then looked at my beautiful girlfriend. Kissing her cheek, I told her, "And that, is exactly why I love you."

She smiled. "I love you too. Hey do you think normal couples fight demonic spirits together?"

I knelt down in front of Ricky's body. He was too busy fighting himself to even fight the demons restraining him. I glanced back at Ryan-Ashley and laughed. "Oh, Baby, we are far from normal."

X • Ryan's POV • X

It was so calm right now. I sat at the tavern's bar with Angelo. Obviously because he's knocked up and we're both straight edge regardless, we were drinking pure blood. I could tell by the bartender's face that he wasn't used to serving it pure. Speaking of the bartender, I think I recognize him from something... When Balz put Devin's mind back together, that was it. He was one of the vampires that volunteered his energy to help.

"So what's your story?" I asked him.

He narrowed his eyes at me. I got the vibe he wasn't much of a people person, but why would you take a job where you had to work with people? He pushed himself off the wall, moving towards the section of the bar we sat at. Then he pulled up his shirt enough to reveal to obvious things. The first was a tattoo across his stomach with the word "OUTLAW" and the second was a huge scar across his torso.

"I was almost killed a few years ago fighting Shadows. It freaked my coven out, so we settled down here. The Shadows didn't even care about me. They wanted my girlfriend at the time, who left me for a werewolf. So when Andy suggested we go rogue, I thought, I got nothin' left to lose." He explained.

"Andy, as in Biersack?" Angelo questioned.

"Mhm." He replied. "I forgot, he does political work for you guys. We're in the same coven, but I mean, we aren't a big deal. We aren't THEE head Coven like you guys. Nothing fancy."

"We aren't fancy." I heard a tired Chris say as he walked down the stairs. "In fact, we kind of have been sucking lately."

Angelo jumped down from his bar stool, attacking Chris with a hug as he reached the bottom of the steps. "You're okay." Angelo softly said.

"Yeah, you're not going to get rid of me that easily." Chris joked. He and Angelo sat back down at the bar, and the bartender got him a drink as he continued. "My nurse told me, you were the one who saved me from Death. You shouldn't have-"

"Chris, you would have died if I didn't go something. And the last thing I need is to have two kids without a father." He responded.

"Thank you." Chris genuinely responded. "Where is Death?"

"After he attacked you, Angelo managed to get Ricky to fight Death inside their body, if that makes sense. Anyways, the both of them ran off. Balz and Ryan-Ashley took the demons to go looking for him. Some of the gargoyles are looking for Kuza too." I explained.

Chris sighed and took a drink from his glass. We sat there in silence for a minute. Just, soaking it all in I guess. Then we all looked up at we heard the tavern doors opening. Luke and Kyle pushed open both doors, making way for someone. My jaw hit the floor when I saw who walked through, caring Kuza's limp body...