"We are all ready to be savage in some cause. The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause."

- William James

                                                                                ***

A long, slow breath came from Sirius. Fetch.

Fucking hilarious.

Hades' eyes never left his, even as he nuzzled the hair away from Galloway's ear. He began whispering again and a light netting of glittering, dark magic settled over her body. Her breath continued to even out, making Sirius' muscles relax against his will.

"What exactly am I supposed to be fetching?" Sirius kept staring at Galloway, an easy reminder of what he would win if he dared to play.

"If I had know she could make you this obedient, I would have found her a long time ago," Hades crooned. Then he snapped his fingers and Sirius found himself blinking in bright starlight coming from a chandelier hanging above his head.

Firelight flickered off black granite as Hades set Galloway gently on a chaise lounge. The skirt of her dress draped around her in a pool of sapphire silk, her blonde hair splayed across the headrest. Sweat beaded on her forehead and cheekbones, her eyes darting restlessly beneath closed lids.

Hades knelt down next to her, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face. He looked over his shoulder with a sharp grin when Sirius growled, then he extended a hand.

"Before I tell you any of that, I need your help here," Hades said when Sirius didn't move to take his hand. He tilted his head toward Galloway. "She needs something to ground her, to help weld her Soul back together."

"I thought I was the one who'd broken it," Sirius choked out.

The god snickered. "So who better to fix it?"

Sirius ached to leap forward and swear he would do anything to help her, but Hades had never been the helping type. Sirius could just as easily help kill Galloway without even knowing he was doing it—that was the kind of thing Hades delighted in. 

Hades wiggled his fingers, beckoning him forward. "I'll swear on Seph if that will make you feel better. I don't want to harm her." He grinned. "She's important to me."

"She's a tool to you," Sirius hissed. "One I shouldn't let you use."

"Oh, why?" Hades asked in exasperation. "Because you don't want me to open up Hell?" Now he laughed, the sound bouncing off the stone around them. A knowing finger was pointed at Sirius. "You don't care about what else might be let out, just so long as you and the Huntress get to walk out in one piece. I can make that happen, Sirius."

Sirius didn't trust Hades as far as he could throw him. But truth rang in the god's words. Sirius had never cared what else might come out of that gate with Hades. He didn't particularly enjoy the idea of demons or dark gods freely wandering the earth, but it ultimately wasn't his problem. 

The only thing he cared about getting out was Galloway.

It'll be my problem, her voice whispered in his ear, making him flinch. He hadn't heard her in a long time and the experience was surreal with him staring down at her unmoving body. And Caleb's. And Rick's. They'll die trying to fix what you allowed to break, and I'll want to die right along with them.

Sirius winced at that, the very thought sending panic cascading through his blood. Worse was the effect the words had on him, forcing him to realize the wretched truth.

He did care. Even if only about how she would look at him when she found out about this, he still cared. And damn if he couldn't just push the feeling aside. It clung to him viciously, making it impossible for him to look at her and even contemplate what Hades was saying.

Slowly, he shook his head.

"How she has ruined you," Hades whispered, making him flinch. The god shook his head in something like wonder, like he had been listening to every thought passing through Sirius' head. He might very well have been, judging by the shock on his face. "The Sirius I knew wouldn't have hesitated for a moment if it meant getting what he wanted."

Sirius didn't bother to respond to that. He wasn't that thing anymore. 

With a small sigh, Hades stretched out his fingers. "We can negotiate terms later, Sirius. Right now, you need to help put your Hunter girl back together."

He shot a dark look at the god, but took a hesitating step forward. There was no resisting the idea of helping her, of soothing her pain. He licked his chapped lips, looking at Hades nervously. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Probably don't discuss Hell," Hades said dryly. When Sirius glared at him, he gave a dramatic sigh. "Give her a memory. Something...soft. Something to help her remember who she is and what she's fighting for."

"How am I supposed to—" Sirius' words were cut off in a yelp when Hades grabbed him, fingernails digging into his skin deep enough to draw blood.

His vision turned black, then red before smoothing out into a nebulous, grey fog. Sirius' arm stung where he could still feel the ghost of Hades' fingernails biting into his skin. 

Only the hard surface beneath his feet kept him from getting disoriented. The grey fog swirled around him, making it impossible to decipher position or direction. He didn't dare move for fear that the ground under him would fall away and he'd tumble into nothing.

A soft sob broke through the fog, making him whirl around.

Galloway knelt on the ground, less than five feet away from him. She was crying, curled in on herself with her arms wrapped around her waist. Her shoulders shook with each wretched sob.

There was no sound as he walked to her—the only thing he could hear was each rattling breath she took.

Sirius stopped in front of her and reached out, fingers hesitating barely an inch away from her shoulder. Then he knelt down in front of her and gently took her face in his hands.

A soft, scared breath jolted from her, her eyes wide and glittering with tears as she looked at him. Sirius managed a small smile as he brushed at the tears with his thumbs, trying to scrub them away just as fast as they came. Galloway swallowed hard, a whimper escaping her throat as she pressed into his hands.

His heart pounded in his chest, making his hands shake and his mouth go dry.

It damn near stopped completely when she let out a small cry of pain and threw herself into his arms, sobbing into his shoulder. Sirius trembled as he held her close, pressing his lips to her soft hair.

A memory. Something to anchor her. To glue her back together.

The words were either whispered in his ear or spoken directly into his head. He couldn't exactly tell in this world of mist.

Galloway still hadn't said a word. She just continued to cling to him, crying in a way he'd only ever seen once before—when she'd come flailing from fever dreams induced by a werewolf bite. 

Holding her tighter, he said, "I would have come sooner if I thought you'd miss me this much, sweetheart."

A bubbling, choked laugh burst from her and she pressed her face against his neck, lips brushing the skin there in a soft kiss that made goosebumps run down his arms. She used his shirt to wipe her eyes, then looked up.

"Who said I'm crying over you?" she managed, voice still thick with tears.

Joy leapt in his heart and he grinned at her. Galloway traced his mouth with a shaking finger. She bit her lip to keep it from wobbling as more tears welled in her eyes.

A memory, the disembodied voice hissed.

Sirius couldn't manage to think beyond this moment—he wanted to stay here in this soft, unfocused world with her body pressed up against his. 

But that was impossible.

Sirius let out a sigh then maneuvered around until he could stand up, still cradling her in his arms. His mind went blank again as she rested her head against his shoulder and pressed her hand over his heart. Carefully, he set her back on her feet, clasping his hand over hers to keep it by his heart.

A tendril of memory whispered at him, blurred with alcohol and exhaustion, but a memory all the same. 

Unsure of what he was supposed to do exactly, Sirius flung the memory out toward the fog. To his surprise, it responded instantly and they were surrounded by streetlight and concrete.

Galloway stiffened then relaxed as he held her close, his hand resting on the small of her back. Violin music floated toward them on a soft, damp breeze, just like it had that night so long ago.

"You know how to dance, don't you?" he whispered, unable to resist nibbling at the shell of her ear. Galloway shuddered and pressed closer to him. Then she pulled back slightly and gave him a faint smile that broke his heart.

She nodded and he pulled her into the music, letting her whirl away, then back into his chest before he guided her through the dance. They stayed in a pool of golden light from a streetlamp, utterly alone save for the music. Galloway's fingers brushed through the hair at the nape of his neck as her cheek pressed against the side of his throat.

The song was slow and romantic here—not joyful and exuberant as it had been in reality. That night, she'd told him how she'd come to work for Hell, told him about her family.

That night, he'd had the first inkling that something was wrong—that her life maybe wasn't her own. 

His arm tightened around her at the memory.   

Galloway laughed softly as they spun around the circle of light.

"What?" he murmured against her hair.

She shook her head, silky hair brushing the edge of his jaw. "It's just...I forget about these."

Pulling back slightly, he gave her a raised eyebrow. She kissed the corner of his mouth and smiled in a way that made him want to get on his knees and beg for her to always look at him like that.

"I forget that it wasn't always a storm between us." She rested her head against his chest as they continued slowly moving with the music. "There were sweet moments too. Things that made me hate you, because you'd do something like this and it made me realize how easy it could be to love you."

He opened his mouth to respond, but she continued, "Of course, that wasn't true. You're not an easy person to love. But I do anyway."

His throat closed, eyes stinging as he pressed another kiss to the side of her head. Tears dampened his shirt as she began to hum with the music.

He was going to kill Hades for this. 

The edges of the fog were beginning to blacken—like a fading dream. Galloway let out a soft sigh and pulled back slightly. She studied his face, brushing the backs of her knuckles against his cheek.

Her fingers came away wet, making him realize he'd been crying too.

"There's someone in the real world who I think is the real you," she whispered. "I think you finally came to get me. I think you kept your promise."

Sirius didn't dare respond. Hades had said not to talk about Hell. Hades had said he was the one who'd nearly shattered her to begin with. He needed to be careful.

"Tell me that you love me," she said with a sigh.

"I love you." His voice cracked. "I love you more than you can possibly understand."

She smiled and stood on her toes to kiss him. It was light, sweet, and Sirius ached to deepen it, but an invisible hand tightened on his arm. He snarled as he was jerked away from her—

And found himself blinking in the light of a chandelier.

Hades was still kneeling beside Galloway, a hand hovering just at her temple. The god cocked his head, letting out a pleased hum as he continued to study Galloway. He whispered a few more words in a god-language that made Sirius' skin tingle.

Sirius wiped at his face before he risked peering over Hades' shoulder. Her skin had more color and her sleep seemed more peaceful.

"Nicely done, Sirius," Hades murmured, floating a hand over Galloway's now-peaceful face. 

He didn't dare ask if Hades had been watching their exchange. He didn't want to let that knowledge spoil what she had said.

She was at least considering that he was real.

Hades stood up and turned to him with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth that made Sirius tense. Crooking a finger at him, Hades said, "Walk with me, Sirius. We have things to discuss, you and I."

When Sirius continued to hesitate, glancing down at Galloway, the god sighed. "The room is warded. Nothing comes in or out without my say-so."

"And her Soul sickness?" Sirius croaked, brushing his fingers over the back of her hand where it rested on her stomach. Her skin was still cool, but not like ice anymore. 

"Time," Hades said, impatience making his tone brittle as he walked toward the door. "Give her a little time where she's not getting shredded apart and she'll be fine."

Sirius wasn't overly comforted by that, since Hades' definition of fine generally revolved around whether you were breathing or not. But there was nothing else he could do.

Nothing except play Hades' game and get her out of Hell.

So he turned on his heel, jerking himself away from her to follow Hades back out into the revel. The hot, smoky air pressed down on Sirius like a physical weight, but this time no one dared to touch him. They didn't so much as look at him, too busy bowing to Hades or scrambling out of his way. 

He followed the god quietly through the crowd. The party whirled back into full-fledged debauchery as soon as Hades passed, the sound crashing into Sirius' ears with enough forced that he winced.

"Nearly all the pieces are in place, Sirius," Hades said, easily audible despite the fact that he never raised his voice. "But—surprise, surprise—you have yet again managed to throw a monkey-wrench into all my nicely laid plans."

The sound of fists hitting flesh suddenly rose, just to be drowned in the roar of a crowd. The scent of human blood—familiar human blood—hit his nose.

A ring of cheering demons and monsters broke to allow Hades to pass, and Sirius found himself looking down into a pit.

Rick, bloodied and furious, let out a roar as the chimera he was fighting swiped a paw at him. The beast's snake tail sank its fangs into his ankle and flung him to the side, where he smacked into the wall before he crumpled to the ground with a yelp of pain.

A few yards away was another pit. Sirius shoved through the crowd, unsurprised when he looked down to find Caleb tangled in a Fury's whip, hellfire scorching his skin. The muscles in his neck were corded as he choked on his screams, trying to free himself.

The monsters around him jeered, taunting the Hunters. 

A hand on his arm made him twist around with a snarl, but it was just Hades, bored eyes flicking down to the bloody Hunters.

"Get them out of there," Sirius snarled.

"No," Hades said simply, then dragged him through the crowd to a third pit.

A vicious torrent of screams poured over the edge of the last pit and Sirius peered over the edge in shock. He had thought the witch dead all this time.

What he saw made him think perhaps Rhys would have been better off that way.

He was staked to the ground, little more than a slab of bloody meat as a demon cackled over him, a wicked, curved knife in her reddened hands. They hadn't given him even a fighting chance. Sirius stepped forward, intent on jumping into the pit and tearing the demon-bitch's throat out.

"Not yet," Hades said, and Sirius' muscles froze, forcing him to keep staring down as the demon lowered the blade again and Rhys screamed.

Don't cross any lines I won't be able to let you come back from.

Those words of hers wouldn't let him just leave the Hunters or even the witch down here. He strained against the hold Hades had on him, and the god clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"You're losing sight of what's important, Sirius," he said. "They won't die. It doesn't suit me to have them die just yet."

Still Sirius continued to struggle, the only thing he could think of the look on her face if she could see what was happening to them. He had sworn to her he wouldn't hurt them, and he'd broken that promise. He'd led them down here. He was responsible for what was happening to them, and she had already warned him once that there were things he could do that would make her hate him.

She could hate him.

"I won't help you until you let them go," Sirius ground out, bristling when Hades simply laughed.

The god put his hands on Sirius' shoulders and whirled him around. He fisted a hand in Sirius' shirt and shoved him. The crowd froze as Hades let Sirius hover over the floor of the pit nearly twelve feet below.

"You will serve me because that is why you were created," Hades said, pleasant voice laced with a promise of agony. "You will help me, because if you don't I'll let your Hunter girl shatter into nothing and keep you on a leash so you can watch while I lay my plans again and get out of Hell anyway."

His grip loosened ever so slightly, letting Sirius slip toward the blood-soaked ground below him. Hades nodded toward where Rhys lay. "These I think I'll keep as pets." He grinned. "At least until I get bored."

Sirius' heart had jumped into his throat, coating his tongue in the metallic tang of terror.

"I need you to bring me the last piece of the puzzle," Hades said. "You do that, you get me out of Hell, and you and the Hunters go free."

"And the witch," Sirius hissed, searching for any loophole Hades might use to turn Galloway against him after they were free.

Hades shrugged an elegant shoulder in acquiescence. Their lives didn't affect his own existence overmuch, so he didn't care one way or the other about them, beyond how they could serve him as leverage.

Eyes flicking toward the pit he had seen Rick in, Sirius finally asked, "What's the last piece?"

Hades smiled in triumph. He pulled Sirius in, away from the edge of the pit until he could speak directly into the Hellhound's ear. "I have the one who will spill blood, now I need the one whose blood will be spilled."

Sirius stared at Hades in bewilderment.

"Did you really think Galloway found Caleb after all these years by accident?" Hades clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "It wasn't even an accident that Caleb was the one to bring Alex into this world of monsters. It certainly wasn't through chance that she died, forcing the Hunter into a Deal."

It was impossible to so much as blink. Well-laid plans. Plans that spanned decades. Lifetimes. 

"You made a deal with that Egyptian bitch, and in a bid to keep that promise you sent what I need to Purgatory."

He had sent Alex to Purgatory in an attempt to increase Rick's chances of leaving Hell alive. The Hunter would die for his sister in an instant, and if he did that, Galloway would find herself with Sekhmet's collar around her throat.

A bargain he had made, putting up Galloway's freedom as collateral, in exchange for the help of a near-immortal warrior who was now at the negligible mercy of Hades' monsters. Who might lose what Sirius had promised he would attempt to keep safe.

Sirius could almost feel the threads and chains of all those promises he'd made tightening around his throat.

"Bring me the Winters girl," Hades said. "Bring me my freedom, and I will grant you the same." 

Trade Alex for Galloway. Leave Rick, Caleb and Rhys here. Let Hades out of the cage he'd been put in centuries ago. Get Galloway out of Hell. Give her to Sekhmet. Double-cross the goddess. Refuse Hades and leave them all to rot in Hell.

Every outcome or option whirred through his head, making him nauseous.

"Let them go," Sirius rasped. "Give them passage out of Hell. Then I'll bring Alex here."

In his head, an image of grey eyes full of horror and betrayal tore at his heart. He didn't know if they were Galloway's or Rick's.

Hades pursed his lips in consideration. Then he looked down into the pit at Rhys. "No," he said quietly. "No, I think I'll keep them. Just in case. You can have one." At Sirius' startled glance, he clarified, "Pick one to take with you. The other two stay here to help...speed you along."

Pick one. Spare one from the torment they were now suffering. That the other two would suffer until he returned with Alex as a sacrifice.

"The witch," Sirius rasped. "Give me the witch."

Hades smirked. "You can get him yourself."

Sirius went flying backwards, landing in the pit with a thud that knocked the breath clean from his lungs.

The crowd gasped, then cheered for this new entertainment. 

Hades crouched at the edge of the pit and called down, "None of them have to die, Sirius. Not if you play this right. Not if you're savage enough—willing enough to sacrifice everything."

A flash of metal and blood passed before Sirius' eyes, and Hades disappeared.