"What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly; it's dearness only that gives everything its value."

- Thomas Paine

                                                                                ***

Everything was red.

Her breath was in gasps, her chest heaving as she tried to suck in more air. The smell of copper was so thick in her nose she could taste it. Her skin was slick.

Something clung to her thigh, sticky against her skin, and she looked down. Raising her hands in horror, she looked at the thick layer of blood covering her.

"Oh, thank God."

Galloway whirled around, her boots skidding in the gore. The skirt of her dress slapped sickeningly against her legs. She placed her hand on the back of a booth, then jerked it away when something squished under her fingers.

She blinked, her mouth gaping open when she found Rhys looking around at the chunks of people strewn everywhere. With  a look of relief, he said, "Judging by your level of mental openness, it was a fifty-fifty chance on whether this was a nightmare or something sexier. And since you're screwing the pooch literally as well as figuratively, I was praying for a nightmare."

"Wha—" Galloway looked at her blood-soaked dress, then around at the gore-splattered windows. Even the lights were scarlet. "What?"

"It's a dream, babe." Rhys took a step toward her, and she raised a knife she hadn't even known she was holding. The silver edge winked menacingly, the light off the blade distorting her vision.

He stopped. "I can prove it to you."

Everything was foggy. Her hand trembled. Softly, she asked, "Rhys?"

Like a camera focusing, he became crisper. More three-dimensional. A jagged cut down the side of his arm flickered into place. Rhys sighed with relief. "Thank you. That makes it easier. Now, don't stab me. Unlike you, I can die and I'd prefer you didn't play Freddy to my Nancy."

She focused on his voice and a bruise bled across his jaw, joined by a split lip. Rhys sighed again and walked over to her. He took the knife, setting it down on a nearby table then raised a hand. "Trust me?" he asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Galloway pursed her lips and shook her head. Rhys placed his hand against her cheek anyway, fingertips on her temple. She didn't think to move when he leaned closer, pressing his mouth to hers.

His soapy, bitter-sweet smell replaced the copper, and she gasped as her mind caught up. She placed both hands on his chest, shoving him away. Her glare was only answered with a lazy grin. She crossed her arms, then looked down to find herself in a dark green dress with no sleeves and a short skirt.

Blinking, she raised an eyebrow as she looked back up, then gaped when she found herself in Logan's living room. Rhys sat in one of the wing-backed chairs, waving a hand. "The more you focus on me, the more control I have over the situation. And the more lucid you get."

"You're a dreamwalker?" Galloway asked, disbelief bleeding through her voice.

"Not naturally," he said dryly. "Logan had some African dream root, which plays nicely with my own abilities. Stuff smells like cat piss, but it boosted my range enough to find you. Then I had to just hope that I could break into your mind. Lucky for me, your life is a slasher film and that translates into your dreams, making them easier to slip into."

She flipped him off for the last comment and looked down. "Why am I dressed like this?"

"I thought you'd look nice. You should show off those legs more often."

"Oh, bite me." Galloway rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure the Hellhound's got that covered," Rhys said nastily.

It seemed impossible that he could give her a headache in a dream. She rubbed at her temple with a tired sigh. "Why didn't Logan come?" she said, a plaintive note in her voice.

"He's busy putting Caleb back together. As soon as you let him run he had two other Hounds on his ass and brought them here." Rhys noticed how she paled and quickly added, "We're all fine. Caleb got a little torn up, but he'll make it and keep all the important bits."

She sat down in one of the other chairs, head in her hands. "I should have known."

A small silence reigned until Rhys said, "Look, I'd love to give you a moment, but you could wake up anytime here. What happened? Caleb wasn't exactly making much sense when the fight was through."

Clearing her throat, she said, "Breaking my contract with Hell was the trigger. I've got a brand on my Soul. Sirius and I are trying to stay ahead of them, but they already found us once. Exploded a diner full of people which is"—she waved a hand—"what you walked in on. Now Sirius is hurt pretty badly and we're holed up in some motel in—" 

She cut herself off hard, then stood up. Narrowing her eyes, she said, "How do I know you're really Rhys?"

With a sideways little smile, he said, "That scar on Logan's left eyebrow is from a white man he stopped from raping a woman back in 1923. Bastard rounded up three of his friends and took a tire iron to Lo's face before trying to beat him to death. I barely found him in time and healed him up, but it scarred."

Galloway huffed out a breath. Not many people would have known that, especially because it was something Logan disliked talking about.

She bit her lip and nodded. "We're holed up in some motel in Kansas City."

"Are you okay?" Rhys asked, and couldn't quite hide the concern in his voice.

She shrugged. "Um, define okay? They exploded an entire building full of perfectly innocent people because I wanted a bacon cheeseburger. Sirius' face was burned with silver powder. Caleb still got hurt, and it looks like you and Logan took a couple hits as well."

Rhys waved away her concern, and the world seemed to flicker around them, like she was suddenly trying to look at him through water. The witch swore. "Give me a place we can meet you."

Thinking quickly, she said, "Tell Logan to go to the place we first met. Tell him to go to Milo's and get something low profile. If I'm not there in three days, then try and contact me again."

Rhys nodded, and the world tilted sideways. He said, "Caleb's got his own—"

"Galloway!"

She lunged upright, staring around wildly. Instinct made her thrash against the hands on her shoulders and she lashed out, fist connecting with something solid. There was a huff of breath and the hands disappeared, letting her scramble backwards.

Panting, she looked around at the motel's mauve walls. Bringing her hands up, she found them clean, then looked around again to find Sirius glaring at her from the end of the bed, rubbing at his chest.

Closing her eyes, she forced her breathing to slow down. Shaking her head to knock loose the cobwebs, she pulled the sheets up around her chest. Eyebrows drawing together, she said, "Sorry. I...I wouldn't have hit you if I'd known it was you."

"I don't know if I believe that," he said. He gestured to the side of his face. "I didn't think it was that bad."

She frowned at him, then realized he was talking about the fact that the left side of his face still looked like cottage cheese. Bits of red muscle peeked out if he turned his head just right. A fist around her heart loosened when she gave him a closer look and realized that he was looking right back at her.

Wrapping the sheet more securely around herself, she shuffled closer to him, her knees sinking into the mattress. He continued to watch her, and she took his face in her hands, staring down into his eyes. There was no milkiness, the eyelid was no longer tattered. Not even a broken capillary to be found.

He just stared at her, his sapphire eyes clear and vaguely annoyed. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into the crook of his neck. Sirius' arms came around her automatically, holding her close against him. A miniature tremor ran through her, followed by another. Once she'd started shaking, she couldn't stop, and Sirius dragged her into his lap, crushing her into him as he held her together.

She kept her eyes open, unwilling to give the darkness a chance to turn into horror behind her eyelids. Her teeth chattering, she asked, "Why d-did you w-wake me up?"

Sirius chafed his hand against her back, warming the skin there and her tremors started to lessen. She tightened her hold as he said, "You were muttering something in your sleep that sounded suspiciously like the name of a certain he-witch I dislike rather immensely."

She made a small chuffing sound that would have to pass for a laugh and leaned back so she could look at him. Placing her hand against his face, she kissed him, then kissed him again before saying, "Other Hellhounds found Caleb. He barely made it to Logan's, and Rhys used African dream root to get into my dreams so he could talk to me."

"You were wearing clothes, right?" Sirius cast meaningful eyes at the sheet she had wrapped around herself.

Galloway rolled her eyes before laying her head on his shoulder. "Yes. Do you feel better about it?"

"No. But it's not like I really have a choice." His tone was petulant, and she knocked the back of her hand against his chest.

Breathing in the scent of his skin, she said, "Business dream, Sirius. He wanted to know where we are and if we could meet them."

"How did you know it was the whore?" Sirius asked, his voice suddenly a little more urgent.

"Stop..." She trailed off with a sigh. It would probably be useless to ask him to just call Rhys by his name. "I asked him the same thing, and he knew something that only someone close to Logan would know. I'm not that stupid, you know."

"You're not stupid at all. But you seem to have a blind spot when that blind spot wears the right face." She pulled away from him, giving him a warning stare. Sirius' mouth twisted, but all he said was, "So what did you tell him?"

"I told him to tell Logan to go to Milo and get us something a little more covert. Then I told him to have them meet us in a place only Logan would know." Galloway watched as a flake of silver slid out of one of the more raw patches of skin next to his mouth.

The flake smoked against his skin and she licked the tip of her finger before pressing it over the flake, making it stick to her. Sirius turned his head, kissing her knuckles and she held the bit of metal up to the light, watching it glitter.

He kissed her shoulder, then up her neck. She turned her head, his hair silky against her cheek. Sirius skimmed his teeth against the corner of her jaw, then buried his fingers in her hair, turning her face to his more fully.

Galloway closed her eyes, the last remnants of horror draining from her as his lips touched hers. Lightly at first, then with more force as she parted her lips for him.

Mint danced across her tongue and she sighed, making Sirius groan low in his throat. One hand was between her shoulder blades, holding her in place, the other braiding itself into her hair. Unthinkingly, she put her hand on the side of his face and he jerked away, hissing.

"Sorry! Sorry!" She grimaced, hand fluttering uselessly beside the injury.

Sirius shook his head, arms wrapping tightly around her when she tried to pull away. His breathing changed, becoming a little more ragged, and he buried his fingers in her hair, his mouth hard on hers.

The sheet slipped, and Sirius' mouth traveled down her neck as she looked up at the ceiling. His tongue flicked against her collarbone, making her sigh, and his mouth was on hers again, drowning her in mint. A small sound of surprise escaped her when he picked her up just to settle her back on the mattress. He stretched out over the top of her, once more kissing her softly—savoring her.

Her fingernails dug into his shoulder blade and he growled, making her open her eyes. He pulled back to stare down at her, and she was a little shocked by how much want she saw in his gaze. How his need and desire for her was etched into every line of his body; how it tumbled and burned in his eyes, leaving nothing but a scorching desert.

Arguments that they didn't have the time slipped from her mind, abandoning her, replaced with a small understanding. Looking at him in this particular moment, she could begin to see why he'd said the things he had last night.

Sirius swallowed, gaze glued to her mouth. "Can it wait?"

"Meeting Logan and the others?" she verified.

He showed his teeth when she said Logan's name, but just nodded, a small shudder running from his body into hers. Even in the absence of a mind link, she could see how badly he wanted her.

She could see more than that. What she saw told her that he would sacrifice anything and everything at her feet if that's what it took to please her. That he would perform unspeakable horrors to keep her safe.

It scared her. 

He scared her. 

Sirius bent his head to kiss her, but she turned her face away and he went dead still. She stared blankly at the sunlight edging around the curtains, gathering her thoughts. Finally, she looked up at him as he started winding a strand of her hair around his fingers. He returned her gaze mildly, but there was an almost-hidden edge to him that hinted at anxiety.

Biting her lip, she brushed her fingers through his hair. "You know that I love you? I mean, you understand that, right?"

Sirius blinked slowly, then frowned. "As much as I can." This made her mouth go a little dry and he said, "Your heart's beating hard. Why?"

She sucked in a shaky breath and whispered, "I'm afraid of what you'll do. I'm afraid of who will get caught in the crossfire." 

Sirius closed his eyes and slumped to the side, his face pressed against her neck. Her heart was still beating hard. Quietly, she said, "I'm trying to make you see that other people aren't as expendable as you act like they are."

He rolled off the bed, pacing along the end of the mattress. His hands behind his head, he turned to her, making her sit up, clutching the sheet around her. Sirius glared at her. "What do you want from me, Galloway? What do you want me to say? I'll try to care about the witch? I won't blame the Hunter?"

She opened her mouth, then shut it, really not sure why she'd started this conversation again. He dropped his hands, holding them toward her in supplication. 

Her teeth sank into her lip. Sirius crawled onto the bed, moving until he was right in front of her. He cradled her face in his hands, thumb brushing along her cheek. "If that's a lie that would make you happy, then I'll tell it with all the conviction I can muster."

Her lips parted, and he was kissing her. Gently, she pushed him back. He sat back on his heels, dragging his hands through his hair. His eyes were hollow with longing and perhaps fear when he looked back up at her. Hoarsely, he said, "Why do you need me to care? Why isn't it enough to know that you're what matters to me?"

"Because I'm more than just me," she rasped. "I'm the people I care about and who care about me."

"Galloway!" he said in exasperation. "Fucking hell, sweetheart. I. Get. It. What part of 'I won't do anything to hurt you' don't you understand?"

Her eyebrows knitted together, her heart slowing with her confusion. "What?"

Gently gripping her upper arms, he said, "I...care...insofar as you are involved. And, believe it or not, I'm smart enough to learn that hurting them, hurts you. And that is the very last thing I want."

They were silent until he said, "Why do you keep asking me this?"

"I... I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know how to do this."

"That's my line," he said, now looking a little scared. "Don't know how to what, exactly?"

She bit her lip, closing her eyes. Then she opened them. "I don't know how to wrap my head around the fact that you're not lying when you say I'm the only thing that matters to you. I don't know how to feel about being the center for you."

"Well, I didn't do it on purpose, you know." He tilted his head, giving her a wry smile. He cut his eyes to the side, then back to her, and said, "I didn't know I could."

She shook her head. "I'm afraid that if something happens, the fact that I'm all that matters to you will override the fact that I couldn't let them get hurt. Even if that meant getting hurt myself."

Sirius was silent. Judging by his expression, she came to the conclusion that he had said all he was going to in defense of himself. He didn't have any more arguments, just cold, unassuming truth. He knew it wasn't her truth, but he merely accepted that.

Shaking her head, she pulled him into her. "I'm just being stupid. We won't let it play out like that."

"You wouldn't keep bringing it up if you didn't have a reason," Sirius said. "Or if you weren't trying to say something else."

Her lips parted in surprise before she frowned. A thought nudged at the back of her mind, but she wasn't sure she wanted to examine it just yet. Sirius was still looking at her expectantly, wanting an answer.

She couldn't give him the answer. Not yet.

So, she settled for distraction. Letting the sheet pool around her waist, she dragged him back into her, biting his lip a little harder than she probably had to.

Sirius didn't offer any resistance. Moving fast, he pinned her to the bed, mouth working furiously against hers. He left her gasping when he pulled back, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "If I didn't know any better, sweetheart, I'd say you were avoiding."

A little breathless, she responded, "Who? Me?" She gave him a smile. "I said I'd make it up to you."

"Mm, that's not an answer." He didn't sound overly pleased.

She didn't say anything, just trailed her fingers up his back and he growled, pupils flaring out. Instinct kicked in, overriding any curiosity or frustration, and he tore the rest of the sheet away, balling it up and throwing it across the room. 

                                                                                  ~~~

Sirius blew out a breath, rolling onto his back. Galloway brushed a sweaty strand of hair away from where it stuck to her cheek before he grabbed her arm and pulled her over on top of him. She raised an eyebrow, then rested her chin on her wrist, her arm on his chest, looking at him.

He brushed more of her hair to the side and asked, "Does that count as angry sex or make-up sex?"

"Angry make-up sex?" she offered. "Were you angry?"

He raised a careless eyebrow. With a grin, he said, "Make-up angry sex."

A laugh burst out of her and she rested her forehead on her wrist, her body rising and falling with every breath he took. His fingers played through her hair, and he said, "I wasn't any more angry than usual. But I seem to recall a recurring argument happening before there was clothes removal."

She sighed into his chest, then looked up. That thought had formed and crystallized. She didn't think she'd get a better moment to tell him. His fingers played through her hair, sending a shiver down her spine. 

"I'm going by myself to meet Logan and Rhys."

Sirius stopped breathing. And blinking.

Her shoulder and just above the left side of her waist on her back stung. Turning her head, she found four raised, red scratches on her shoulder. Distantly, she thought that's what she got for sleeping with something that had claws.

She didn't want to meet his gaze again. He still hadn't taken a breath.

When he did, it was a vicious snarl and he jerked them both upright. His fingers bit into her arms where he held her and his fangs were out, slicing into his lip. In a deadly calm that contradicted his actions, he asked, "What?"

"I'm going to meet—"

"I heard you," he hissed. "What I meant is what the fuck are you talking about?"

Then his eyes slitted and he moved her to the side, getting out of the bed. He found his jeans and jerked them on, eyes burning a hole into her. "That's what all that was before you—" He laughed, the sound caustic. "Un-fucking-believable. Christ, sweetheart, I haven't been played like that in a long damn time."

"That's not—," she tried.

He shook his head. "No. Absolutely not. And also, why?"

His tone grated against her nerves and she scowled at him. "Don't tell me what to do. And because I need to talk to them. Alone."

Sirius' hands shook before he turned them into fists. That just made the rest of him shake with either rage or fear. Galloway was stuck between the two and couldn't for the life of her imagine what he would be afraid of.

"That's not going to help anything," he said, obviously trying to hide the desperation in his voice.

She opened her mouth to snap something back, then frowned, confused. "What?"

He stared at her, his pupils pinholes. He swallowed, then croaked, "You going with them. It's not going to stop Hell. You being around won't keep them safe. And it's not me Hell's tracking."

Galloway's frown deepened. But just before she could snap at him, asking him what the hell he was talking about, she took a moment to look at him. The muscles in his neck were corded, those in his chest tight. His gaze burned into her, terrified and horrible. His hands were shaking again. 

Understanding hit her like a baseball bat to the head. Her ears rang and she felt a little sick, knowing now why he looked so scared.

Her mouth dropped open, her eyebrows pulling together. Before he could move, she launched herself from the bed into him, clinging to him. His arms went around her waist and she said, "I'm not leaving you."

In slow motion, Sirius went to his knees and she let him take her with him. He started breathing normally again. Combing her fingers through his hair over and over again, she quickly soothed, "I'm telling them goodbye. I'm telling them we've got a plan. That they need to work on the gates while we work on stopping Theron." She pulled back with a little difficulty and cradled his face in her hands. He turned his head, kissing her palm, and she asked, "Sirius, are you crazy?"

He gave her a disbelieving look. "Of course I'm crazy! What the fuck did you expect telling me that?"

"Not you freaking out so much!" she exclaimed, then held him closer when he flinched.

Shaking her head, she said, "It's the only way to balance it, Sirius. I need to tell them that we're all going to keep working to fix this. But if you're going to insist on being a wild card, then I can't be thinking about how I might get Logan or Caleb hurt because of you. The only option that leaves me with is telling them that we'll be off-grid for a while."

"And I can't go because..?" he mumbled against her skin. He didn't have the wherewithal to sound contrite, or to argue that they wouldn't get hurt. Or even that he wouldn't hurt them.

She sighed. "Because if you're there, it'll just turn into a fight. And not a fight I can just shrug away. They need to understand that this is my decision, one hundred percent. I'm not saying that it's forever. We'll need them down the road. But for now, the only one Hell is going to attack from here on out is us."

"Please don't do that ever again."

Galloway pulled back, raising an eyebrow when he didn't let her go all the way. His pupils were slightly less tiny. Placing her hand against his face, she said, "You do realize that we'll have to be separated every now and then." Standing up, she pulled him to his feet, then looked down at herself. "Like now, when I need you to go out and find me something to wear."

He shook his head, burying his face in her hair for a moment. "Not even remotely the same thing," he croaked.

Galloway brushed her fingers against his face. "Go get me some clothes. And maybe find yourself a Valium. Or seven."

"Am I wasting the money?" he asked, ignoring her last jab.

She waffled for a moment, understanding that they needed to save their money for emergencies, but disliking his unsubtle hint at theft. With a muttered curse, she shook her head, then tugged away from him.

Sirius pulled his shirt on and the stench of rot and rusty iron hit her, making her grimace. Taking two steps away from him, she covered her nose and said, "That has blood on it."

He glanced down, unconcerned, then looked back up at her with a curious lift to his eyebrows.

"Of course that wouldn't bother you," she said under her breath. Then, raising her voice, she said, "Jeans. And a normal shirt. Boots." She gave him a warning glare. "Underwear."

"You take all the fun out of everything," he grumbled.

He grabbed her wrist and kissed her, lingering for a moment before he left.

Galloway leaned against the wall, already exhausted.