"No one thinks of how much blood it costs."

- Dante Alighieri

                                                                                 ***

"What did I tell you?"

Everything hurt.

"I told you, didn't I? Why won't you ever just listen to me?"

She was moving.

Galloway whimpered when the motion stopped just long enough for her to be jostled around. Something pressed painfully hard into the side of her neck.

She was cold.

"Just hang on. We're almost there. Please, please."

Her eyes were open and she could make out blurs of light, but nothing solid. She was in a world filled only with ghosts, shapes of people fading in and out, darkness swallowing them just as they appeared to her. The world streaked and swayed in front of her.

Air rattled in her throat, seeping away before it could reach her lungs properly. Instead she inhaled copper, something thick and warm. She coughed and her chest hitched, spasming as she tried harder to breathe.

It wasn't working.

Galloway wanted to blink. Her eyes were burning.

Then she was in a world of light instead of dark. She was startled by the sudden change and took in another shocked breath, just to try and cough away the fluid drowning her.

"Please! Help her, she's dying!"

Galloway wanted to frown. Was that what was happening? She was dying?

She stopped moving though something was still pressing hard into her throat, making it even harder to breathe. God she needed to breathe. She tried again and her body seized as her muscles started protesting the lack of oxygen. An aching pressure was starting to build right behind her eyes.

It was getting dark again. More voices were surrounding her. She didn't think it mattered.

Galloway smiled slightly, kind of waiting for her reaper. Dully, she wondered if her Soul would require something to ferry her to the other side, or if she would just wake up in Hell. She didn't actually know what happened to Collectors when they died. Maybe Hell just sent them to their version of a diabolical retirement home.

She couldn't stop the absurd notion that at least she had gone out like a proper Hunter.

Now she grimaced. No Hunter worth their salt wanted to be taken out by something they hadn't been tracking first. Vaguely, she wondered if her parents would be proud, or if they'd think her careless for letting a vampire jump her like that.

She wished she could have the chance to ask them.

Her chest was growing light and Galloway couldn't see anything anymore. 

Her last thought was to wonder if she could pull some kind of favor for Sirius when she got to Hell. Make sure he didn't wind up back in the pits for her stupidity.

It took a long time for the frantic sounds around her to fade away.

                                                                   ~~~

In the same way that sound was the last thing pulled from her, sound was the first thing given back and Galloway frowned at the annoying beeping sound somewhere to her left. She wondered if this was really how her stint in Hell would begin.

Torture by irritation.

Galloway opened her eyes, but her vision was blurry. She blinked rapidly and shifted, just to moan as pain lanced through her entire body. It felt like all of her veins had been removed, stretched out, then carelessly replaced. 

That was more like it. What was Hell without a little pain?

There was a rustling sound coming from the foot of her bed, then the right side of whatever she was laying on sank. Her eyes wandered up, feeling gritty in their sockets.

Sirius sat there, looking at her through dark eyes, the black circles under them making him look like a specter. His lips looked chapped and bitten, and it didn't look like his hair had seen a comb in a couple days at least. He hadn't shaved in a while, either.

Now Galloway frowned. With a sigh, she croaked, "I'd hoped I could convince Theron to let you stay top-side."

He blinked once, then again, returning her frown. "What?"

"I wanted to talk to Theron before they dragged you down here too. Explain that you didn't rip my throat out. That it was just some stupid, damn vamp." She turned her head, looking around and frowned at the sterile whites and greys. "What part of Hell is this? I've never been here before."

Sirius leaned forward, his hands covering his face briefly, just for them to slide down so that he could stare at her over the edges of his fingers. Galloway shifted uncomfortably, the thought occurring that he might be here for a more sinister reason.

So she was shocked when he laughed. 

It started out as just a small bubble of sound, but he apparently couldn't stop it. He doubled over, throaty laughs fighting their way free as he struggled to contain them. She tried to struggle into a sitting position, but even small movements overwhelmed her with exhaustion. So she settled for waiting instead, watching as Sirius laughed.

He was still laughing when he finally looked up, his blue eyes bright, and said, "You're not in Hell, Galloway."

Her eyebrows pulled together as she tried to process his words. She chewed nervously on her lip. "What?"

"You didn't die." Sirius took her hand and pressed it against her neck, where her fingers found layers of thin cloth. He lined his fingers up over the top of hers, pressing gently into the side of her throat.

Only then did she register that there were bandages chafing lightly at her skin. Her breath whooshed out, her eyes going wide, her fingers pressing harder into her neck. She dropped her hand when a dull pain starting to throb through her throat.

Sirius brushed some hair out of her face and said, "I told you. I said I'd find you later, didn't I?"

Galloway looked up at him, taking in just how truly exhausted he looked. "I didn't get killed by a vampire?" she asked, dumbfounded. 

"Afraid not, sweetheart." Sirius tried to smirk, but didn't seem able to manage any real smugness.

Galloway's lips parted momentarily in surprise. "What happened?"

His expression went dark and he said, "I heard you. You called for me. And I found you. I found him leaning over you. I could hear it. I could hear him killing you."

"What did you do?" Ignoring the protest staged by her body, she finally struggled into a sitting position. 

"I killed him. Tore his head off. Left him to burn." Sirius turned away slightly after that, his eyelashes casting small shadows over his cheekbones. He sighed deeply, like he was bracing himself. "Then I brought you here."

"To a hospital?" Galloway asked, looking around again. She didn't think she'd ever been inside a hospital outside of when her baby sister had been born.

Sirius bristled. "I didn't know what else to do. Sorry if that doesn't fall in with your stupid Hunter rules!"

Now it was Galloway's turn to try and stifle a laugh, but she found it hurt too much and let it escape, the sound soft. She reached out and touched his shoulder, her fingers barely grazing the sleeve of his shirt. He shuddered slightly, shaking his head.

When he looked at her, she shrugged. "Hunters go more on guidelines. Hard and fast rules don't really work for us."

Sirius caught her hand and pressed her palm into his arm, his skin too warm against hers. She bit her lip again and he looked at her mouth, but all he said was, "We should get out of here."

Galloway smiled briefly but nodded. Things would probably get awkward when they found out she didn't have any insurance. Frowning, she asked, "Didn't they ask you to pay for treatment?"

He handed her a stack of clothes, then watched idly out the window as she got dressed. "I didn't stick around. While everyone was making sure you kept breathing, I left."

Galloway blinked slowly, buttoning up the green and tan plaid he'd brought her. "What?"

"You were gonna be fine and I don't actually have any, you know, documentation." He shrugged. "They didn't have anyone to ask, which means they couldn't get any uncomfortable answers. Until you woke up, that is."

She took her hair out of the sloppy ponytail it had been in and arranged it so that it hung around her neck, hiding the bandages as best she could. With another sigh, she said, "Act like you just finished visiting your great-aunt Martha who has..."

"I hear cancer usually doesn't elicit many questions. Just pitying looks."

She grimaced. "Don't be awful."

"Don't expect me not to be," he retorted, then gestured at himself. "Hellhound. They don't exactly teach us to play nicely with others in preschool."

Galloway rolled her eyes and beckoned for him to follow her, trying to look like a visitor, rather than a patient. She smiled at a few of the passing doctors, but no one tried to stop them and she breathed a sigh of relief when they walked out the front doors. 

Her body argued with her about every step, but she just ignored it, pushing forward. She looked over at Sirius. "How long was I in there?"

"Three days. I overheard some of the doctors saying it was damn near a miracle how quickly your red blood cell count rose." He grinned wryly at her and she laughed again. He glanced at the bandages wrapped snugly around her neck. "You should probably leave that on for the next couple days."

Galloway snorted. "Maybe for one more day. I heal fast, remember?"

Just as she said it the world tilted, throwing her off balance and she stumbled. Without hesitation, Sirius caught her and swung her up into his arms. Raising an eyebrow, he continued walking and said, "Or maybe a couple more days."

Galloway considered forcing him to put her down, but her head was still spinning and she didn't see the point in giving him more material to be smug about. So, she just rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.

It was unsettlingly easy to rely on him.

Her eyes opened again when she heard a car unlock and looked over to find her Audi waiting for them in the parking lot. Sirius set her down and she held her hand out for the keys. He just snorted and shook his head, opening the passenger-side door for her.

Galloway rolled her eyes, but got in. She was finding it increasingly difficult to argue with him and much too easy to give him what he wanted. She rested her forehead against the cool glass of the window and sighed.

If she had thought managing Sirius was difficult before, she realized it had been a cake walk compared to now, when she owed him her life. She didn't know how she could tell him no now.

The drive was short and silent, and Galloway smiled slightly when Sirius pulled into a motel she actually approved of. He rolled his eyes and said, "They took cash."

She laughed and got out of the car, following him to their room. But by now it was bugging her too much. He unlocked the door and held it open for her. Galloway went inside and sat on the bed, watching as he threw her bag on the table.

"Sirius?" she asked.

"Mm-hm?" He didn't look up.

"Sirius," she tried again, trying to catch his attention.

Sirius threw himself down on the bed beside her, stretching out. "Yes, Galloway. You have my full attention."

She meant to look at him, but couldn't. So she stared at the windows instead. "How do I say thank you?"

Sirius was silent for a long time and she eventually had to look at him. He was propped up on his elbows, staring at her, his mouth open in surprise. She bit her lip. "How do I say thank you for saving my life?"

He sat up now and tilted his head. "Would you ask that if I was just another Hunter and you weren't a Collector?"

Galloway sighed, a wave of exhaustion sweeping over her, loosening her tongue. She laid down and said, "There's a lot I would do if you were just another Hunter and I wasn't a Collector."

She opened her eyes when she felt his weight shift and looked up to find him hovering over her. Sirius shook his head. "What you really wouldn't do, is you wouldn't ask that. You would just take it for granted that I would care enough to save you."

"I don't take anything for granted," she whispered, thinking that she'd just made a terrible misstep.

Sirius smiled softly. "And you don't trust anyone either."

"I can't afford to," she answered simply.

Sirius stayed there a moment longer, then leaned down a little closer. Galloway felt like she could float away. She felt like she had the night she'd told him about her family, which is to say, she felt too much like kissing him.

She wanted him to ask.

Because extensive blood loss and a life debt seemed like a pretty good excuse to say yes just this once.

Sirius traced a finger down the side of her face before resting his hand lightly against the bandages on her neck. Galloway's lips parted in anticipation.

"Why do you think you need to say thank you?"

She blinked, taken aback by his question. It hadn't been the one she'd expected. She chewed on her lip for a moment before saying, "Because that's how it works. When someone saves your life, you say thank you."

Sirius looked at her through his lashes, apparently thinking and her teeth sank into her lip as she waited.

She wanted to growl when he pulled away and stood up. Galloway didn't move, just watched him and he gave her another small smile. He ran a hand through his hair and said, "I haven't showered in two days. Let me go do that and..." he paused, his eyes running up and down her prone form. "I'll think about it."

Galloway just nodded, her mouth too dry to form a proper answer.

She flipped on the TV as she waited, paying mindless attention to what appeared to be a cartoon involving a platypus, until her eyes slid shut.

They flew back open again what felt like seconds later when Sirius fell onto the bed next to her again. The smell of his soap floated toward her. She rolled over to find him with wet hair and a recent shave.

Sirius smiled wickedly and Galloway knew she was done for. Almost too innocently, he asked, "You still need a way to say thank you?"

She had to put the brakes on this. "Within reason. Hunters might not have true rules but Collectors do," she reminded him with a wary grimace.

Sirius sat up and leaned over her once more. She sighed, horror and anticipation making for an uncomfortable combination in her stomach. He looked at her mouth, then trapped her in the sapphire of his eyes, his lashes casting soft shadows.

He smiled again and said, "Pretend like I'm just another Hunter."

Galloway blinked, shocked into silence for a complete minute. Then: "What?"

Sirius sighed. "You'd trust a Hunter. You wouldn't have to say thank you to him for saving your life. I want you to treat me like you would some Hunter you'd partnered up with."

That was the very last thing she would have expected. 

Sirius sighed and said, "I seem to have grown rather fond of you. If I was a Hunter, you would have taken me with you when you went looking for that vampire and you wouldn't have ended up half dead. Don't skip out on me anymore. You want to hunt, then fine we'll hunt." He stopped to study her one last time. "But you don't always have to be alone, Galloway."

She resisted the urge to point out that she hadn't gone looking for that vampire. It had found her. But it didn't seem like the appropriate time to say something so petty.

Galloway inhaled deeply and, before she had even really known she was going to say it, nodded. "Okay."

Sirius smiled and tilted his head. She tried to get away, but it was too late.

His mouth captured hers almost effortlessly, his hand sliding across her stomach to cup around her hip, his lips moving softly against her own.

Just like his request, his kiss wasn't what she had been expecting at all. Her fingers threaded their way through his still-damp hair and she pressed her mouth harder into his, her actions outside the realm of her control.

Sirius bit lightly at her lip, making her shudder, then shocked her when he pulled away and rolled off the bed. He looked down at her and, breathing just a little hard, said, "There. That seems like a pretty good start. That's how you would treat a Hunter, right?"

Galloway opened her mouth to protest, but he was already out the door and gone.