"I'm never what I like, I'm double-sided."

-Twenty One Pilots

                                                                                         ***

"Yeah, that looks about right," Sirius muttered to himself. The dive bar glowered at them under the buzzing light of neon signs. It could have been made exactly to order by a Crossroads Demon. It looked like desperation and last chances.

Motorcycles were lined up outside, chrome and leather glistening in the fluorescent streetlight, and Sirius wondered what the likelihood of getting into a fight was. He glanced sideways at Rick as he got out of his car. The Hunter's shoulders were bunched up under the ratty Carhartt he wore over a denim pearl-snap. Then he looked at Caleb in his black and green flannel and sighed.

They were definitely getting in a fight tonight.

He hated fighting humans. He always had to try and remember not to accidentally kill them.

Gingerly, he eased himself down out of the truck. Persephone's magic had worn off in the hour trip it took to get here, and his body was calling him several rather nasty names. He stuffed his hands into the stiff pockets of his jeans, hiding his claws, and leaned against the side paneling.

They talked amongst themselves for a moment, then headed toward the doors and he heaved a silent sigh. Caleb had his head bent toward Alex as she muttered to him, but Rick turned to look at Sirius with a harsh look in his eyes. He stopped, which brought the others to a halt as well.

"Are you waiting for some kind of engraved invitation?" Rick asked, sounding a little snotty to Sirius.

Caleb and Alex traded weary glances, and Rick rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as they waited for him to join them.

"What are you going to do?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Go in there and politely ask her to come outside and get into the trunk?"

"Well we have to go in there anyway to find her first," Alex snapped. "We can decide where to go from there."

Sirius' shoulders shook as he barked out a laugh, making his chest ache. When they all raised an eyebrow, he shook his head with a small, humorless smile.

"What?" Caleb asked warily.

Movement in his peripheral caught his attention and he turned his head slightly. A rowdy group of women in slinky dresses was wobbling across the parking lot, headed into the bar. Sure they were already too drunk to understand what he was saying, Sirius didn't bother to lower his voice when he said, "I'm the only one going in there to get the bitch. You stay out here and, I don't know, draw a devil's trap in the bed of the truck or something so we can hold her."

All three Hunters gaped at him.

"Now where would you go and get a damn fool idea like that?" Alex suddenly burst out. "You can't just go in by yourself!"

Caleb was slowly shaking his head, like he was feeling sorry for Sirius, and Rick was just scowling. But Sirius was pretty sure that was just the normal set of his face and ignored the foul look shot at him.

Before any of them could open their mouths, Sirius said, "She'll get one look at you and know what you are. Hell, you can practically smell the fact that you're Hunters. And she might be able to tell what I am, but Hell's a pretty big place and if she's been working the circuit up here there's a pretty good chance she won't know who I am."

Sirius was pretty sure this was a lie. It was almost guaranteed that Theron had let everyone know who and what he was. But he figured it would be easier to lure the Crossroads Demon out with the promise of a feather in her cap, rather than chance her turning the place into chunky soup if she sensed the Hunters.

A brief memory flashed: Galloway had been standing in front of the glass door of the diner when those first demons caught up to them, her knuckles white. Then they'd all been covered in blood and chunks of flesh. Her face had been so white under the scarlet, the dress plastered to her slim body. It had made her sick. Or maybe that had been the sight of his burned, bubbling skin as powdered silver had scorched his face.

"It'll be quieter that way," he said, shaking himself out of the memory.

He knew he had them with that one, and he knew it when they all did that weird three-way glance thing again. If Hunters wanted anything, it was to be low profile. With a sharp grin, he turned and started walking, quickly getting halfway across the parking lot.

This time, he was the one who stopped as footsteps ran up behind him. He closed his eyes for half a second, then turned just as Rick caught him.

The Hunter gave him that epic evil eye. "Did you really think it was gonna be that easy, Fido?"

Sirius tilted his head back, a long sigh escaping through his nose. He vaguely wished laudanum could still be found at the corner drugstore. He had a headache. Maybe later he'd find something a little stronger.

"Why?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Because none of us fucking trust you aren't going to bring that bitch out here to gut us," Rick said, not blinking.

Sirius stared at him, then his shoulders slumped and he shook his head. Not about to waste the time arguing, he just said, "Try not to get in a fight."

"Aw, that's sweet," Rick said, voice mocking. "Worried about me?"

"I don't want to explain why the fuck you thought it was okay to go and break some dumbass biker's neck." They got to the doors and Sirius yanked one open. "Don't start anything."

He held up his hands like he didn't know what Sirius was talking about, then pulled the other door open. They were immediately assaulted by the rank smell of drunk sweat, leather, hairspray and a few other things Sirius really didn't want to think about too much. Lights flashed through the dim room, making it impossible for his eyes to adjust properly. It was crowded and hot, the air thick with other peoples' breath.

Rick started to drift away, but Sirius grabbed his elbow, jerking him back. "Don't wander off," he muttered. This earned him another of those nasty looks.

Rick yanked away from him. "Thanks for the concern, Dad," he said snidely, then commenced to cutting his way through the people dancing to what looked like pool tables lined up on the far side of the room.

Sirius just shook his head. She wouldn't be over there.

He took a moment to scan the bar, then found exactly what he wanted at the counter. A forty-something man with thinning hair and a strained air about him caught his eye. So did the gorgeous young woman sitting beside him with her hand on his arm, nodding as she listened with big, caring eyes.

It didn't take him long to get through the crowd to the bar, people parting naturally around him to get away from him. He got a few looks from who he supposed were the owners of those bikes out front, but no one touched him.

Moving with care, he stood just near enough that he could overhear them, but wouldn't be noticed by the demon. The bartender looked at him. He balked for a moment, then slowly shook his head. He needed to be completely clearheaded tonight.

He listened to the man drone on for a moment about his debt and his cheating wife and his whiny kids. Then the Crossroads Demon asked, "What do you really want to do with your life?"

Sirius figured this was about his cue to cut things short. 

Smoothly, he stepped forward and draped an arm over the she-demon's shoulders, making them both jump. "There you are," he said with a charming smile. Then he looked at the man, his smile dropping to something fractionally less pleasant. The demon had frozen, looking up at him, her lips parted in confusion.

She didn't pull away, which he thought was encouraging as he leveled a dangerous look on the man. Voice low, he said, "Instead of bitching about it to some stranger who wants to take your Soul straight to Hell, why don't you go home and fucking find a way to fix the problems screwing up your stupid little life? 'Cause from where I'm sitting, you really don't have that much to bitch about."

The man gave him a startled look, but payed for his drink and slid off the barstool. Giving Sirius one last, strange look, he left the bar. Sirius wondered if he was really going to do anything to fix his life, then decided it was unlikely.

He ran a hand through his hair, then grabbed the glass sitting in front of the demon, downing the gin. With a grimace, he set the glass on the bar upside down, then took the man's vacated seat, looking at the Crossroads Demon. She was glaring at him, her eyes a dull red. He waited to see if she would try anything, but she didn't show any sign of recognition.

"What the hell did you do that for?" she said, her tone sulky and taking him by surprise. "I almost had him."

Sirius shrugged, his arm still across the back of her chair. "I'm sure you're close enough to your quota anyway. You can take the loss," he said and leaned forward, crowding her a little.

She didn't seem to mind, her eyes looking him over. "Rough night?" she purred, running her fingers down his thigh, touching the splotches of blood.

"I've had worse," he said, forcing himself not to jump up and away from her as her fingers reached his knee, then started to travel in the opposite direction. He tilted his head, giving her another smile, his eyes half lidded. "I'm hoping it'll get better."

She made a small humming sound. He'd had yet to see any recognition dawn in her eyes as she gave him another once-over. While there were rules involving Collectors and their Hellhounds, this sort of situation was actually rather common, which Sirius hoped would work in his favor.

"Where's your Collector?" she asked, moving closer to him. She smelled like brimstone and old, musty blood.

The question made him tense and pull away from her slightly. She raised a dark brow and he gave her a mocking smile.

"Do you care?" he asked, trying to keep his voice light. "He's around."

"You're not sharing a room, are you?" she asked. The heavy makeup around her eyes made them look like hollow sockets in the low light.

It took him a moment, but he was eventually able to dredge up something close to that wicked smile that usually got him laid. He shook his head and grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from the bar. Again they cut a path through the crowd, Sirius trying to catch sight of Rick, but without any luck.

They got to the doors more quickly than he'd hoped they would, and then she was dragging him out into the cooling, early evening air. All he could do was hope that Caleb and Alex were ready, and that Rick decided to grace them with his presence in time.

Before he realized what was happening, the demon had a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down into a hard kiss. Sirius was so shocked that he didn't immediately pull away, his mouth unsure about what to do with the unfamiliar shape of her lips. 

She groped at him, making him jump backwards. He swore at himself, but apparently his body didn't care that they had to keep her suspicion at a minimum. The demon gave him a strange look, and he said, "Why don't we find someplace a little more private."

He flicked his eyes meaningfully to two women standing nearby, smoking.

"I don't mind putting on a show," she said with a laugh, arching her back a little. That action, plus the low neckline of her blouse, nearly put everything on display. He couldn't stop his eyes from flicking away from her, showing his disinterest.

Sirius shook his head at himself. He was acting like an idiot. With a small 'mm' sound in the back of his throat, he put his hands on her hips. "Sure, but considering what I want to do, people might just get the wrong idea," he whispered, making his teeth graze against her ear.

His stomach heaved in nauseous rebellion. Once again draping an arm over her shoulders, he started to turn her toward where they had parked at the very back of the lot. He gave it three minutes before things got ugly, and wondered if anyone from the bar would try to get involved. 

She didn't resist, her arm wrapping around his waist. They got nearer to the truck, farther away from the light. Sirius heard a whisper of movement by the front end of the pickup. The demon's steps slowed, her eyes turning red as a strangely animal growl issued from her chest.

"Told you!" Sirius called across the mere feet between them and the truck. "You can freaking smell it!"

The demon's hand slid up his back, moving slowly, like he wouldn't notice it that way. His grip on her tightened as Caleb and Alex emerged from behind the truck. Both had guns trained on the demon. The silver rounds burned Sirius' nose even from here.

His head was jerked back as she fisted her hand in his hair, and he caught her other wrist, barely avoiding a knife in his throat. She tore at him viciously, yanking him farther backwards. He let her action carry him down, still straining to keep the blade away from his windpipe.

They both thumped to the ground, and the demon snarled. She flipped herself over on top of him, using both hands now to drive the knife down toward his neck. The tip scraped at the hollow of his throat, and he glanced down. It was a regular steel knife, etched with spells that would ensure some lasting damage. He really didn't feel like walking around with a hole in his throat for the next seven days.

"A little help would be nice!" he grunted as he pushed against the demon, unable to try and get her off him. All his concentration was on stopping her from stabbing him, which prevented him from doing just about anything else at the moment.

Those blood-red eyes bore down into his, and she hissed, "You're that Hellhound they were talking about. The one fucking that Hunter-bitch Collector. Aren't you?" She grinned. "Imagine what Theron will give me when I show up in Hell with your head on a damn silver platter."

She jolted her body weight forward, making his muscles recoil in surprise, and he swore as the knife dug into his neck, drawing blood.

"Caleb!" he yelled, frustrated that it was taking the Hunters so damn long to get their asses in gear. He thought they did this professionally.

The demon laughed with glee at the sight of his blood and leaned farther forward, all of her weight bearing down on his arms. His hands wrapped around her wrists, trying to press her up off of him. He brought his knee up, trying to knock her over the top of him, but her shin pressed hard into his thigh, making it difficult.

He'd forgotten how strong demons were, even low-level ones like this bitch. It had been a long time since he'd really, truly fought with one.

Their run in at that diner didn't count, seeing as how they'd been more interested in getting to Galloway. 

He rocked sideways, his muscles straining and aching with the previous beating he'd suffered. The demon thudded into the asphalt. He lunged to his feet just as she did, and found Caleb and Alex still hanging back, watching.

"What are you doing?" he snapped, dodging a slash from the demon's knife.

"You said you could handle it," Caleb said. "Besides, we can't shoot her. We need to keep her alive."

Red glazed his vision. He was killing Caleb next. The blade bit into his arm. Right after he finished with this.

The problem was that he was supposed to take her alive and mostly undamaged. At least, that's what Caleb had droned on about during the drive. Apparently, it wasn't enough that the human's meat suit was alive, it had to be as intact as possible after they finished with the demon too.

He got bit by the knife again and decided if the Hunter wanted to fight a demon without hurting it, then he could have at it. That wasn't really his style.

"To hell with this." Claws sliding out, he settled into a proper fighting stance. The demon hesitated, sensing something had shifted here.

"Who's that you're wearing?" Sirius asked for the Hunters' benefit.

The demon smiled, running a hand down her body. "What, this old thing? Some college girl. Pretty, isn't she."

"She still alive in there?"

"Oh yeah," the demon said with a grin.

"Sirius," Alex suddenly warned, like she knew what was about to happen.

"She awake?" he asked. The demon feinted left and caught a solid kick to the stomach for it. 

Her breath whistled out and she skittered back, holding her stomach. She put on a simpering smile, and in a high, whiny voice said, "Help me, please. Make her stop. This all has to be a bad dream. I just want to go home. My parents are looking for me. Please save me, save me, save me!" She dropped the smile and snarled, "She's such a whiny bitch. I might pick up a new one just to get away from her."

The demon edged closer, trying to find an opening. Sirius swiped at her with a clawed hand, drawing blood down her forearm. 

"No!" Caleb hissed.

Her eyes went red again. "But not before I kill you and drag your carcass down to Theron."

He curled his fingers in a 'come at me' gesture. She snarled and leapt at him, and he let her. Catching her by the throat, he let her weight and momentum crush her windpipe against his hand.

Eyes going wide, she gagged but couldn't draw in any breath. Still gripping her throat, his claws cutting into the delicate skin, he slammed her down into the pavement, straddling her to keep her pinned.

She brought her hand up, wildly swinging the knife. He caught her wrist with ease, then slammed her hand down into the pavement. There was a crackling sound as a few of the small bones in her wrist shattered.

The knife dropped from her useless fingers. The Hunters were shouting at him as he swept up the blade.

He was beginning to think they just purely weren't listening to him.

Flipping it over to where the blade extended beyond his thumb, he smashed the butt of the knife into her temple. The spells hit her hard, making her eyes flutter. 

Angry, he raised the knife a second time, then found himself being yanked backwards by the collar of his shirt. He was slammed into the pavement again, the breath knocked from his lungs. A weight settled on his neck, and he looked up to find Caleb looming over him, the heel of his boot pressed into Sirius' throat, cutting off his breath even more.

He held a gun trained steadily on Sirius, who watched as Rick and Alex descended on the demon, putting a cloth bag with a pentagram sewn into it over her head, binding her hands and ankles with silvered rope.

Lightning quick, he grabbed Caleb's foot and twisted, forcing the Hunter to either fall to the ground or suffer a dislocated knee. Caleb fell and Sirius was on his feet, trying to convince his lungs that they really were still working.

Blood trickled from the cut on his neck down into the collar of his shirt. A police siren wailed in the distance.

"We said we weren't going to kill them," Caleb said, outraged as he got back to his feet.

Sirius wiped away the blood sliding down his arm toward his hand. "We need to take her wherever we're going to do this," was the only thing he said, watching Alex and Rick wrestle the feebly struggling demon up into the back of the truck.

"Are you listening to me?" Caleb demanded.

His breath deepened as he struggled to keep his cool. He'd thought dealing with Galloway's stubbornness was exhausting. At least with her he was willing to put up with it. He loved her. These three, not so much.

Caleb stepped forward and fisted his hand in Sirius' shirt, jerking him forward, forcing him to look up at the Hunter. His temper exploded white-hot and he raked his claws down the back of Caleb's hand, making him instantly let go, swearing.

Not thinking, he threw a powerful hook, and caught the Hunter right on the jaw, spinning him to the ground. Caleb lurched back up to his knees, weaving drunkenly and shaking his head.

Steps quick and jagged, he backed away from the Hunter, who was cradling his shredded hand to his chest, spitting blood. There was a small chinking sound as a tooth landed on the asphalt, and Sirius realized how hard he'd hit him, taking another step back.

After another shake of his head to clear it, he glared up at the Hellhound. Mouth pressing into a thin, tight line, he shook his head at the Hunter, starting to feel helpless again.

He was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he couldn't do this. Couldn't work with these people, even for her sake, not matter what he had told them, or even himself. His voice a shaky rasp, he said, "Go. Get the blood. I need to..."

"No," Caleb spat, voice cold enough to freeze the Mojave. "Get in the bed of the truck and make sure that fucking demon stays put."

Sirius blinked, his fingers still shaking, blood dripping from the claws of his right hand.

Alex took a tentative step forward. "Caleb?" 

He didn't acknowledge that she'd spoken, storming past the other two Hunters to get into the driver's seat and slam the door behind him. The engine roared to life, the headlights momentarily blinding Sirius.

When he could see again, he found Rick standing just a few feet away from him. The Hunter's expression was unreadable, but his gun was still held loosely in his hand at his side. Sirius braced himself for a bullet to the chest.

At least, he hoped it would be in the chest. A leg or arm would be even better.

"Don't do it again, Sirius," he said, his tone low and lacking any of the usual sarcasm or snide mockery. He narrowed those steel-grey eyes. "You do it again and we're done, demons or no demons."

All Sirius did was nod. Grimacing, he climbed up into the back of the truck, nearly getting knocked over when Caleb gunned the engine. He sat next to the demon, who was laying still, the silver-laced rope lightly singeing the skin of her wrists.

They pulled out of the parking lot and started heading farther south. Sirius sat with his back to the cab, the metal still radiating the day's heat, even as the desert cooled around them. He stayed scrunched down below the siding of the bed as Caleb drove through the city.

The demon moved every now and then, but she didn't say anything. It was a little surprising that she hadn't just smoked out as soon as she saw the Hunters, and Sirius wondered why it had seemed so easy. Maybe he'd been overestimating how difficult this would be.

Which made him wonder if he really did need to stick with these Hunters.

His eyes stayed on his hand, watching Caleb's blood dry around his claws.

Galloway had been right. They would get hurt with him around, and the damnable misery of it was that he just didn't care. He wanted to, for her sake. He wanted to be able to pull her out of Hell, point to Caleb and go, "See? That's how much I love you. That's how much I care about you."

But he couldn't even seem to pull that off.

They left the lights of the city behind them, pulling out into the desert itself. He caught sight of a sign saying they were heading to some place called Sloan.

"I'm going to peel the meat off all your pretty faces," the demon suddenly cooed.

Sirius just sighed. He wondered if there was a class demons had to take. Creepy Things to Say to Your Victims 101, or something like that. Because he'd heard that before. Hell, he'd had it happen before.

Then, she said, "She's not going to make it, you know."

Sirius tensed. "Who?" he asked, against his better judgment.

"Your Hunter whore. Theron will tear her to pieces, and she'll be no better than you or me." The demon laughed, the sound girlish and unpleasant. She turned her face toward him, and he wondered if she could see anything through the bag. It looked like it was made of some sort of thick material, but he couldn't truly tell, and made sure to keep his expression bored and under control.

As soon as you let a demon know they were getting to you, you were done.

"Are you still really going to want her after that bright little Soul is gone?" she taunted. "Or maybe she'll get tired of you. Demons don't have the capacity for pity, after all. Once she doesn't care about how fucked up you are, do you really think she'll stick around?"

Sirius couldn't stop the small shudder this sent running through him. Those were his very fears voiced by this demon who didn't know him from Arawn.

When he didn't respond, she just laughed again.

Caleb took a right turn that nearly sent Sirius into the demon, and then they were slowing down. He looked down at her, and said, "Well, whatever happens, we'll be the ones having a little fun with you tonight."

A vicious, ugly smile lifted the corner of his mouth when her breath sped up a little.