"Something's getting in the way. Something's just about to break."

-Breaking Benjamin

                                                                         ***

"Nice place you got here, Cay," Rick said, looking around the abandoned house with a sneer. 

A lonely desert wind threw sand against the already paint-stripped and faded siding of the house, making the rotting wood creak. Sand had worked its way into every crack and crevice, piling in the corners and littered across what had probably previously been polished wood flooring.

Sirius wondered how long the desert had been working to reclaim this bit of land. The place smelled like abandonment. Most of the furniture was gone or pushed carelessly to the sides of the room, up against the walls, which once had had wallpaper on it.

The demon struggled as he carried her over his shoulder, wiggling like a fish and forcing him to sink his claws into her. He was waiting for the Hunters to put the finishing touches on the devil's trap they had drawn over the sand-smoothed wooden floors of what he could only assume was a sitting room, or perhaps a dining room. Alex was the only one he could see at the moment as she finished with the archaic script, her movements precise and graceful.

Rick and Caleb appeared from one of the other rooms with a hefty looking table, placing it squarely in the middle of the circle making up the border of the over-sized trap, making sure the legs didn't scrape the paint away. Sirius stepped forward, carefully avoiding the freshly painted lines and threw her with little care down onto the table.

Moving quickly and in perfect unison, each Hunter produced more of the silver-fortified rope that was currently binding the demon, then each moved to one corner of the table. Sirius watched as they all paused, then looked at each other, then at the empty corner of the table.

"Team effort, Fido," Rick said, watching the demon as she started to squirm on the table. "Time for you to tag in."

Sirius flinched automatically when Rick moved as if to toss the rope to him. "I can't touch silver," he said tightly. "It burns me."

"I know," Rick said, voice flat and unsympathetic.

Sirius gave the Hunter an equally flat, unsympathetic glare, then caught the length of rope just before it hit his face. He swore as his hands immediately started to smoke where the silver touched him.

Caleb brought a knife out from his position at her head, Rick doing the same at her feet. Sirius stood at the unoccupied corner of the table on Rick's end, still burning. He watched and copied as each Hunter tied one end of the rope to their respective table leg.

Quick as lightning, Caleb and Rick slashed the ropes binding her wrists and ankles. Sirius swore as she twisted like a snake in bag, clawed hands reaching for Alex as she lunged. Ignoring their shouts, he dove on top of the demon, pinning her to the table, sinking his own claws into the wood to anchor them.

"Tie her down!" he ordered, then snarled when she clawed into his stomach, tearing at his organs. Blood splashed and a high-pitched voice cried out, then was overrode by a deeper voice snapping out commands.

The demon laughed, her hand working deeper into him, blood forcing itself up his throat and between his teeth as she sliced into delicate, vital structures. Her nails scraped against his spine and he choked, spitting blood down onto the demon who just kept laughing as she attempted to gut him.

His fingers relaxed their grip on the table against his will and his vision dimmed. Then, hands were fisted in the back of his shirt, and he choked out a scream as he was pulled off the demon's hand and thrown to the floor.

He rolled onto his stomach, crawling away from the demon. His hand pressed into the gaping wound, stemming the flow of blood to keep him from ruining the devil's trap by accidentally changing the script and letting the bitch free. Once he was clear, he collapsed to the floor on his side, spitting another mouthful of blood.

Closing his eyes, he just let himself bleed for a moment, sulfur thick in his throat. It spread like a pool of ink from his stomach, inching across the dusty floor. The Hunters were still shouting, the demon screaming as they got her tied down.

Then, everything was blissfully quiet, just the sound of ragged breathing and bleeding filling the air.

"Come on, Fido," Rick said quietly, suddenly hovering over him. "Up you get."

Sirius let Rick haul him to his feet, then into another room where he lowered the Hellhound into a musty chair. The Hunter hovered his hands over the now shredded shirt.

Wiping blood off his chin, he said, "Don't worry about it."

"You've got a fucking hole in you," Rick argued, lifting the shirt up to stare at the aforementioned hole. "Again."

"Regular day at the office," he said, voice thick as he turned sideways and cleared his throat of the last of the blood. He tilted sideways a bit and took in a few deep breaths. "But if it's all the same to you, I'd like to not bleed again for at least a week if that's okay."

"Yeah, man," Rick breathed out, still almost touching him. Then his eyes snapped up to Sirius' and he asked, "Why'd you do that?"

"Because if she escaped and killed all of you, I wouldn't have been able to get my blood," he answered without hesitation.

A laugh huffed from Rick's nose, and he said, "Well... thanks, I guess."

"I didn't do it for you," Sirius said, blood loss and anger loosening his tongue. He cocked his head as Rick blinked once at him. "It has to stay tied down so we can bleed the bitch, so that I can fucking get the only thing I've ever loved out of Hell. Preferably before she's so damaged that she tries to put a hole through me."

Rick gave him a strange look, then said, "Just... stay here. We'll take care of the blood and the demon. Try not to... almost die."

"I'll get right on that," Sirius said dryly. He could still see into the room where the demon was tied down. Alex stood at the demon's feet with an old, tattered book in her hands, which were trembling slightly.

Caleb was doing something with the demon's arm, while the demon kept up a stream of nasty words and insinuations. Then the Hunter was walking away from the demon and toward Sirius. He tossed something at him, his mouth set into a disgusted line.

Sirius caught it, looking at the sloshy blood-bag. One pint of unnaturally dark, ruby-red blood, still warm against his palm. It seemed like so little. Voice hoarse, he said, "That's all you're taking?"

"You've already done enough damage. Be happy with what you have," Caleb snarled.

Some part of him ached to hit the Hunter, then keep hitting him until he could hear bones crack.

He squeezed his eyes shut, scrambling for another course of action, a different train of thought. Anything. Slowly, he opened his eyes to find the Hunter glaring at him, defiance, anger and sadness making for strange companions in his dark irises.

Then, another bag was tossed at him, startling him as it landed in his lap. Caleb turned his head, looking pissed. They all fell into an abrupt silence when Alex glared back at him, her brother behind her, watching with an expression that was impossible to read.

"You can lose two and be okay, Caleb," Alex said, a slight waver in her voice. "We'll take her to the hospital anyway. After..."

Sirius looked up from the packages of demonic blood in his lap to the Hunter. She was pale, but determined, her hands clutched around what he now saw was a St. Michael's verse book. 

Briefly, he wondered where in the hell they'd gotten a hold of one of those.

The originals, the ones with any actual power in them, had been found and burned a long time ago. As far as Sirius knew, priests now had to use a litany of slightly lesser prayers that took a lot more time to work, and weren't always quite as successful.

But calling on St. Michael...

He stood up, unsure it would be a good idea for something like him to hang around while they did this.

Caleb still looked mad, but all he did was nod sharply at Alex. She smiled, the expression strained, and he pressed his mouth into a thin line before walking back into the room with the demon in it.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Al?" Rick asked softly, glancing down at the book in his sister's hands. 

Alex inhaled deeply, then said, "I've been working on my Latin. I got this."

"Yeah you do," he said with a smile, then kissed her forehead. She smiled back, and he whispered, "Don't listen to anything the bitch says. She doesn't have any power here."

As if to blatantly contradict the Hunter, the windows that still had glass in them exploded inward, peppering everyone inside with sharp little shards. Sirius hunched over on himself, protecting the blood. He couldn't afford for any to be lost at this point.

Standing up, he swayed lightly on his feet, then headed for the door. Alex was at the demon's feet again, the slim, leather-bound book open in her hands. Rick and Caleb stood slightly in front of her, but Rick's eyes flicked to Sirius as he walked toward the door.

Sirius didn't offer an explanation, bolting out the door when Alex started to read. Her clear voice didn't falter over the Latin, calling to Michael, and a shiver of heat skittered over his skin. Ignoring the bleeding, he yanked the front door open and ran out into the yard, past the vehicles and into the desert proper, until he could no longer hear her speaking.

He caught his breath, looking down at the blood bags to make sure they hadn't ruptured or otherwise spilled any of their precious contents. They were still perfectly intact, and he sat down on a rock that was still warm with the day's heat, trying to ignore the new hole in his guts.

This, at least, he knew would be healed within the next twenty-four hours.

The night grew darker around him, the sky a rich, deep blue. He looked up, staring at the diamond stars in the sky. There were billions of them so far away from the bleached night skies of the cities.

He'd never asked her if she liked the night stars as much as she liked the sun.

A small lizard sat on the warm rock next to him, unperturbed by his presence. He continued to watch the nighttime desert around him, occasionally looking back at the sky, listening to the increasingly loud sounds from the house.

He could hear as things were thrown against the walls, and a dust devil was whipped into being around the house itself, battering the siding. Shrill screaming had started to travel through the air, but he couldn't decipher any of the words being said.

Then it was like the very air was pulled from his lungs. The lizard at his side darted into a little hiding place, and he looked up as a column of smoke shot skyward before arcing and slamming into the sand mere feet from him.

There was a moment of dead stillness, then the wind picked up normally. A few more moments had the lizard peeking out to see if the coast was clear. Sirius sighed, making it duck back down into its hole.

He stood gingerly and walked over to the spot the demon had disappeared, her essence forced back to Hell.

The sand had been turned black and shiny, basaltic and out of place in this part of the desert. He stared at the black smudge in the otherwise pale ground.

Then, his vision twisted and he fell to his knees heavily as a pulse of power swept through the area. Blood dripped from his nose and he hunched down against the wave, eyes closing as he again hugged the packages of blood to his chest, protecting them.

It was impossible to tell how long it lasted, but then a hand was placed tentatively on his shoulder. He jumped and twisted around, fangs baring automatically to watch Alex jerk back with a small squeak. With a shake of his head, he forced his fangs away, then his brow furrowed.

There were dark circles under her eyes, and there was something unsteady about her heartbeat that hadn't been there before. Blood streaked down the side of her face from a nasty cut on her temple, and he could see bruises already forming on her arms.

She knelt down next to him, and he glanced down to find that the dark stain on the sand had been cleaned away. In a panic, he looked down at the blood in his hands, then sighed when it was still there. 

Her shoulders sagged, a tear slipping down her cheek before it was hastily brushed away. Neither of them said anything. Then they both flinched as there was a roar from behind them, and Sirius heard a crash come from the house, like something had been flipped over.

Turning to Alex, he still didn't speak. She was just staring up at the sky, her mouth trembling lightly.

He was familiar enough with the expression on her face to know now was not the time to say anything or ask questions. So he sat back on his heels, waiting. Though, for what, he didn't know.

It startled him when she sucked in a ragged breath and turned her head to look at him. He watched her from the corner of his eye.

"It would have been better if we just slit her throat like you told us," she said, her voice hoarse. "Kinder."

"Wha—" He had to stop to clear his throat. "What happened?"

She blinked rapidly, brushing away another tear, and pain lanced through him. Alex cried just like Galloway did. Pretending like she wasn't.

When Alex didn't answer, he didn't press the matter. Instead, he adjusted to where he was sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him, his hands pressing into the dirt to prop him up, the blood balanced on his thigh. She didn't move a muscle, continuing to just stare at the horizon, looking at where the dark blue sky met the darker ground.

Finally, she whispered, "Rick said it wasn't my fault. But I don't know if that's true."

He looked at her again, not speaking.

Alex moved around until she was sitting with her legs hugged into her chest, using her knees to brush her tears away. Voice muffled, she continued, "It wasn't so bad when she was threatening us and throwing stuff. I've been hit harder sparring with Rick."

Sirius really doubted that, judging by the cut on her head and the bruises that continued to bloom over her arms.

"I was so close," she said, voice breaking on the last word. "Two more verses to go. Then... she..."

He looked down at the blood, feeling just sort of empty. Like he used to before.

Alex's shoulders shook silently as she cried. Gasping, she finished, "It brought the girl to the surface, then broke every bone in her body. I could hear it. Every single crack. And then she started screaming, begging us to do something to save her. I... All I could think was she was already dead."

The words I told you so floated through his mind. But he choked them back. "It happens. Demons are dicks," he offered, the words weak and terrible in his own ears.

She grew still, though he could still smell the salt of her tears.

It was the wrong thing to say. He knew it. He just didn't have anything else.

Of course he'd been right. It was called possession for a reason. Demons liked to take things, and they liked to keep them. If they couldn't keep them... they destroyed them. Simple as that.

Alex got to her feet and headed back toward the house without sparing him a second glance. He looked down at the blood, then once more at the stars, and did the same. The bleeding caused by the demon had already slowed sufficiently, but he still moved slowly, not eager to get back to the accusing glares of the Hunters.

They had to try. We always have to try.

His eyes closed as her voice whispered through his mind. He didn't answer. He didn't have the right one for her, because he just purely didn't care. The girl had died anyway, just like he'd thought she would, and all he had was less than a quarter of what he needed to show for it.

And the worst thing here was he knew they'd just do it all over again. They'd play a sick game of catch and release, taking days and weeks and maybe months that Galloway just didn't have to spare.

The blood in his possession almost made it worse. It was just a way to show how very much longer she would have to wait. Showed how useless and weak he was right now.

Sirius hesitated at the door of the house, but all was quiet inside, except for the heartbeats of the Hunters. Cautiously, he inched inside and looked around. The furniture that had been left had been smashed and scattered, thrown by the demon in a panic as it tried to stop the Hunters from finishing the exorcism.

A sheet or blanket had been draped over the table, which was the only piece of furniture still standing. Still carefully holding the blood, he walked over to the table and lifted the sheet, looking down at the girl's battered face.

What he could see of her chest was slightly caved in, and her arm was bent at an awkward angle above the elbow. Blood coated the lower half of her face, having spewed from her nose as the demon broke her from the inside out. He didn't move when Caleb moved to stand on the other side of the table, directly across from him.

Caleb reached over and jerked the sheet back up, ripping it from Sirius' grasp to cover the girl completely, hiding her from the world. They stood there for a minute, both just looking down at the piece of cloth.

"Say it," Caleb rasped.

Eyes flicking up to find the Hunter looking at him, he just shrugged. "Nothing to be said."

Caleb rubbed a hand down his jaw, over his mouth, eyes haunted and hollowed out. His gaze once more went to the girl. Sirius just waited.

"Why?" A new voice made both of them jump, and they turned to find Rick staring at Sirius, avoiding looking at the dead body on the table.

"Why what?" Sirius asked when Caleb seemed disinclined to say anything more. He had an urge to shove him out of the room, just so he would stop staring at the girl's body.

Rick shook his head, staring at the ground now. "Why don't you have anything to say?"

This made Caleb look up, and Sirius looked between the two Hunters. They were both watching him, more tired than hostile, which was strange. Finally, he just said, "Exorcisms are tricky. Especially when you use verses as powerful as the ones you did. Demons get desperate and then they start breaking things. This time it was the girl. It happens."

"So, what?" Caleb suddenly snapped. "You knew this was going to happen and just decided to let us see it for ourselves?"

"Would it make you any less determined to exorcise the others we're going to have to catch? I don't think so," Sirius shot back, and they both gave him startled looks. Sirius glared at Caleb, and said, "I told you before, I'm not looking to kill people. I just don't care if they end up dead."

Caleb was shooting daggers at him with his eyes, but Rick was frowning down at the floorboards. Alex was hovering in the doorway, still looking pale.

"Look, it sucks, but yeah, I could have told you that's what was going to happen. That's what demons fucking do. They kill people." Sirius looked at each Hunter in turn, his eyes glancing off of Alex. "I just don't understand why you're all so damn surprised. You never seen a demon kill someone like that before?"

You're being kind of a dick, Galloway said dryly. You don't always have to be so cruel to get your point across.

By now, he was actually pretty sure that he did.

He gestured to the girl. "I mean, for fuck's sake, haven't you done this before?"

"We have," Caleb said, voice quiet. "It just always worked before."

"Well good for you," he said shortly, crossing his arms, the blood cradled gently. "Now where are we going to find the next demon?"

They, all three of them, looked at him in shock. He didn't flinch, meeting each stare in turn. Then he laughed, the sound ugly. Shaking his head, he said, "All of that for two pints." He looked up and stared directly at Caleb. "She needs us to work faster."

"That what the voice in your head said?" Caleb demanded, turning nasty as well. Both Alex and Rick took a step back from Sirius.

"Maybe," he said, teeth bared. "Doesn't matter where it came from. It's true."

Caleb shook his head, turning away from him. "We need to get her body someplace the police can find it to return her to her family. Then we can talk about the next Hell bitch."

All Sirius could do was stare. Was this actually happening? Was this real and not just some terrible dream he would wake up from and find Galloway curled up next to him?

Carefully, he let one claw extend to punch into the skin of his other forearm. It hurt. His chest hurt, as did his stomach.

His vision blurred and he turned blindly to walk out the door, ignoring the calls from the Hunters.

This was very real.