"Will you lay yourself down and dig your grave, or will you rail against your dying day."

- The Lumineers 

                                                                         ***

Galloway jerked awake, wrenching herself from an old nightmare. Sitting up, she curled in over herself. Taking deep breaths, her forehead resting on her knees, she shook the nightmare away, then flinched when fingers skimmed lightly along her lower back.

Turning to look over her shoulder, she found Sirius watching her. She closed her eyes and grimaced, letting him pull her back down. With another blown out breath, she pressed her face into his shoulder and muttered, "I've never had someone chase the nightmares away before."

"Nothing like current horror to chase away past nightmares," he replied dryly, and she smiled. They stayed that way for a second, until he said, "I think we should go to Vegas first and... price... the demon blade before we commit ourselves to capturing a demon."

Galloway made a small growling sound and wrapped an arm around his waist, rubbing her thumb along the bottom of his ribcage as she banished the last few images of her brothers' destroyed bodies.

He trapped her hand with his. "Distracting me won't work."

A wicked smile twitched at her mouth as she looked up at him, her hair obscuring the vision of her left eye. Sirius frowned as she rose to her hands and knees, throwing one leg over his waist. When he just continued to frown at her, she slowly lowered herself until her body was pressing into his.

Sirius swallowed, his pupils dilating a little, making her smile widen. Careful not to disturb the bandaging over his heart, she slid her hand up his chest until she could lightly touch his jaw with the tips of her fingers. A growl rattled in his throat, making him wince and she laughed softly.

Finally, he brought his hand up, lacing his fingers through her hair and bringing her mouth to his. She traced along his lip with her tongue and his mouth parted, mint flooding over her. Sirius growled low in his throat, making her laugh again as she pulled away, but just barely.

Close enough so that her lips still brushed his as she spoke, she said, "Are you sure that won't work?"

Sirius bared his teeth at her, then rolled them over. But as soon as he put weight on his left side, the muscles in his arm gave. He collapsed into her, knocking the breath from her lungs. Swearing, he lurched upright, clutching at his shoulder. Guilt immediately swept over her and she rose to her knees, reaching toward him, but he just waved her away.

"Give it a second," he said through clenched teeth, not breathing.

She sat back on her heels, her hands in fists on her knees. Biting her lip, she waited until he let out a long breath, his body relaxing and his eyes opening. He gave her a wan smile. "It's okay."

It really wasn't. But arguing wouldn't do any good. He'd already done the deed, now they'd both have to live with it.

She scrubbed a weary hand through her hair, Sirius' eyes tracking the movement as he said, "If we leave now, with the way you drive we'll be there in maybe two days. Then I can go talk to her and find out what it'll cost us."

Galloway raised an eyebrow. Sirius grimaced, obviously realizing that she had caught the one bit of that he most likely hadn't wanted her to. Cocking her head, she said, "You can go talk to her?"

Sirius' mouth pressed into an uncomfortable line and, delicately, he said, "She's more likely to be... friendly if it's... just me." The last words were said so quietly she almost couldn't hear them.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder, before laying back down. Propping herself up on her elbows, she watched with distinct satisfaction as his eyes roved over the lines of her body, and said, "Friendly, huh?"

He grimaced at her tone. Then he rose to his knees and shuffled over to her, careful this time not to put any weight on his left arm as he draped himself over her, face close to hers. She let her gaze go to his mouth, then wander back up to meet his eyes.

Galloway knew it was stupid, but the jealousy flickering inside of her didn't care if it was petty or not.

Her arms shook a little, protesting supporting her weight and some of his in such an awkward way. With a somewhat dramatic sigh, she collapsed backwards. Sirius pressed his lips into the hollow of her throat and murmured, "Don't you trust me?"

"No," she said with no real conviction.

"Too bad," he said, looking up with a small grin. Then, his expression became a little more somber. "I'd prefer you never leaving my side for a second, but as discussed, occasionally necessity will demand separation." 

She rolled her eyes before closing them, letting out another sigh. His mouth against her jaw now, he said, "If Valentia is anything, she's vain. Me showing up with someone prettier will not get us any closer to that blade."

"Do you really think that's going to work?" she asked, rolling her eyes at his not so subtly attempt at flattery.

"Maybe?" he responded, then groaned as he lay on his side. His arm looped around her waist, drawing her backwards into his chest.

She turned her head slightly so that she could still see him and he said, "It's not the kind of place someone like you goes."

Now she rolled over to face him fully. Scowling at him, she asked, "And what kind of place would that be?"

"The kind of place I go," he said softly, placing his hand against the side of her neck.

Unpleasantly, she had the thought that now she knew what it had been like for him when she had decided to go by herself to meet Logan and the others. What rankled even more was the fact that she'd made him let her go.

Grumbling, she bit unhappily at her lip before saying, "Fine. If you think that's what needs to happen."

"Really?" he asked with no small amount of shock.

She almost wanted to laugh at his face. Rocking forward a little so that her lips were brushing his again, she said, "Yes. Although I would like my extreme reluctance to be marked down."

He huffed out a laugh, the mint smell of his breath intoxicating. She rolled farther forward, pressing her mouth into his. He made a small sound of pleased surprise, kissing her back with enthusiasm.

They stayed like that for a long time, until finally Galloway opened her eyes and saw the sunlight beginning to creep up the side of the walls. Reluctantly, she played with the top button of his shirt, then whispered, "We should go."

His eyes were half-closed as he nodded, his nose skimming against hers as his breath played over the sensitive skin of her lips. She couldn't resist the temptation to lean forward one more time, reveling in the feeling of his mouth on hers.

He let out a small laugh, his lips curving up into a smile and she finally sat up, rolling her eyes at him. Her good mood dropped when she saw that he had bled through the bandage, blood wetting the fabric of his shirt again.

When he followed her gaze, he grimaced and stood up, extending his right hand to help her to her feet. He pulled her up, then into him and she reluctantly wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Resting his hands on her hips, he said, "It'll be okay."

"You can't promise that," she muttered, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

He made a small sound of acknowledgement, kissing her temple before he led her downstairs. Gathering their things, Galloway looked around the decrepit house. She frowned at the feeling that something was out of place.

She went pale when her eyes found one of the few windows whose glass was still intact.

"Sirius?" she asked. When he looked at her, she just pointed.

The sigil she knew had been painted on that glass was gone. Not a trace of blood left on the pane. Slowly, she turned back to him.

He was across the room in a flash, grabbing her hand. "We need to go."

His voice was calm, but she could see the worry in the tight line of his jaw. Casting one more glance over her shoulder, she followed him out to the car. He threw their stuff in the back while she started the engine.

She was watching in the side mirror when he suddenly grew dead still. His claws extended, his hand still resting on the door, his head turning to look farther down the road. Storm clouds were brewing in the south. Orange lightning speared through the thunderhead, and her heart stuttered.

Then Sirius was around the car, throwing himself into the passenger seat.

Galloway wasted no time backing out of the driveway and finding the road, the engine letting out a high whine as she forced it to go faster. She couldn't stop her gaze from flicking up to the rearview mirror every few seconds, looking at the sinister dark clouds.

It was only when Sirius slumped in his seat, rubbing at his chest that she began to calm down. Her voice strained, she asked, "How close?"

"Too close," he growled, his canines lengthening. He turned his head to look at her and asked, "Did you just... miss the window?"

"No!" she snapped, then shook her head, thinking back. Frowning, she said, "I definitely remember doing that window. I had to cut myself again."

"Then what happened to it?" he asked. "It didn't just fade off."

"I don't know," she sighed, anxiety like bugs under her skin. "But from now on, maybe we shouldn't stay in one place for too long."

"It was less than a day!" he objected, then rubbed at his eyes, nodding. Wearily, he groaned, "We should drive straight through."

"Then you'd better get a little more sleep," she murmured. Her mind was racing, trying to figure out how a sigil drawn in blood could just disappear into thin air.

He swore under his breath, then crawled into the back, yelping when he accidentally knocked his shoulder into the side of the seat. She looked back at him. He had his good arm draped over his eyes, his left hand cradled into his chest, his teeth gritted.

Softly, she said, "I'll look at it again when we stop, okay?"

Sirius didn't respond and she turned back around, chewing nervously on her lip as she drove.

Then, her eyes went wide and she slammed on the brakes. Sirius swore violently as the sudden stop flung him forward. The dust hadn't even settled before she was out of the car and at the trunk, rummaging around for a knife.

After a second, Sirius joined her, holding his arm awkwardly, his face salt-white with pain. "The hell?" he asked.

She held up the knife, placing the blade against her palm. He hissed as she sliced the skin open, cupping her hand so that the blood began to pool, rapidly filling the hollow and trickling over the edges of her palm. Not responding, she went around to the driver's side, kneeling down in front of the open door.

On the inside corner, she painted the first of four symbols she wanted to use, and Sirius made a small sound of understanding behind her.

She got the third sigil half done before she had to reopen the cut, her hands beginning to shake. A little slow getting up, she realized that neither of them had eaten in probably more than twenty-four hours and it was beginning to show. Sirius grabbed her elbow when she swayed, and she went to the final window behind the passenger seat, paying special attention so she didn't screw it up.

When she was done, she relaxed her hand, blood spilling down to the pavement beneath them. Quickly, Sirius wrapped it up, even though he knew it would close in a few minutes. With his dark head bent over her hand, he muttered, "I should have thought of that sooner. Why don't you let me drive?"

"You've been bleeding longer than me," she argued.

"But I'm the only one who's had anything to eat in the past day or so. We only stopped once on the way to Wyoming. And you didn't eat anything then."

Galloway frowned at the fact that he'd noticed that. The slaughtered diner patrons had still been on her mind and she'd felt too sick to eat, only picking at the meal they'd had before she'd gone to see Logan and the others. With a sigh that made her head spin a little, she finally nodded and he pressed his palm against her cheek for a second before she climbed into the back.

Sirius pulled back onto the road. "I'll wake you up when we get to the state line."

With that, she let her eyes drift closed, her hand itching as the skin knitted itself back together. Biting her lip, she knew she would have been fine if she hadn't bled so much, or if she'd eaten. But they'd been going hard since the moment she had let Caleb go, and her body was starting to reject the abuse she was subjecting it to.

Slipping under, she hoped to God that Rhys wouldn't decide to make another dream appearance.

                                                                                ~~~

Galloway leaned against the car, staring across the sunset desert spread out before her. A warm, dry breeze made her hair float around her face. The gas pump clicked and she hooked it back onto the stand, staring at their last twenty dollars.

A little bemusedly, she thought that maybe going to Vegas hadn't been a terrible idea after all. She'd become rather talented over the decades at a handful of card games her brothers had taught her in secret, when her mother had objected to the idea of Connor teaching them to her.

She smiled, remembering how her mother had said that card games weren't befitting a lady, and how Connor had howled with laughter, reminder her that their little girl was a Hunter, not a lady. Alandra O'Malley had thrown a plate at his head, making him duck, the dish shattering on the wall behind him. Then she'd immediately rushed over to her husband, apologizing and making sure he was okay.

Galloway supposed she knew who she'd inherited her temper from.

Her brothers had snuck into her room that same night, grinning at the minor rebellion. They had created a tent out of a blanket and, in the glare of a flashlight, had taught their baby sister the rules to poker.

A familiar pain stabbed through her heart and she closed her eyes, the sun making the backs of her eyelids bleed red. A body rested against the car next to her, and she leaned into Sirius, her eyes still closed.

"What were you smiling at?" he asked quietly. She looked up as he put on a pair of sunglasses she suspected had just been stolen.

Motioning for him to get into the car, she peeled away from the gas station. Glaring at the half-full tank, she said, "We need more cash."

"Mm-hm," he said, unconcerned, before throwing a couple large bills into her lap.

Closing her eyes, she squeezed them shut for a second before saying, "Do I even want to know how you did that?"

"Probably not," he muttered, looking out across the sand. "It'll stake you."

She frowned as he echoed her thoughts. Shaking her head, she gathered up the money, handing it back to him. Raising an eyebrow, she said, "What, you can't play?"

"I can. Rather well actually," he murmured. "I just don't know when to stop."

This didn't surprise her in the least, but all she did was nod. Dread was bubbling in her stomach as they got closer to the city. Trying to keep her voice light, she said, "Is that what I'm supposed to be doing while you meet... what was her name again?"

"Who cares?" he said with a roguish sort of smile. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he shrank back into the door, increasing the space between them. Scowling at nothing, he said, "Valentia. And I guess, if that's what you want to do. It certainly has my vote."

"And why's that?" she asked, her voice a little dangerous.

Inwardly, she didn't really care about this Valentia woman, though, she wasn't thrilled about Sirius' history with her. She just thought it was funny to make him squirm a little bit.

Still staring out the window, he said, "Demons have too much stock in Vegas. They wouldn't risk blowing an entire casino into chunky soup."

Her smile dropped like a stone plummeting through water and the blood drained from her face, making her cheeks feel frozen. She didn't say anything. The city glimmered at them, the darkening horizon making the lights brighter and brighter with each passing second.  

Sirius sighed. "I won't be long."

"I still don't like it," she replied a little stiffly, but really she knew she didn't have a leg to stand on. Biting hard into her lip to keep her ire in check, she said, "Fine. It's fine. I'm pretty sure neither of us likes this."

A sound of agreement from him interrupted her and she slumped back in her seat a little as they crept into the outskirts of the city. She had really hoped not to be back here for another five years, at least.

"Go to one of the bigger ones," Sirius muttered. "More likely that there will be Debtors there."

She blinked, giving him a blank look, then realized what he was saying. Curling her lip, she said, "I don't need to use those poor bastards as a shield, Sirius."

"You might," he replied honestly, looking upset by the idea, though certainly not for the same reasons as she had.

Shaking her head, she looked down at her dirty jeans and wrinkled shirt. "I wish I had something... cleaner."

Sirius just rolled his eyes, then pointed at a medium-sized casino with plenty of flashing lights and streams of people going in and out. She pulled over, running her fingers through her tangled hair a couple times to make it look a little less gnarled before she pulled it into a decent looking half-ponytail.

She put the car in park, waving off a valet before she turned to Sirius and asked, "How long?"

"An hour, maybe two," he said promptly. He dug through the glove box, extracting a small notebook and a pen. Writing something down, he folded the piece of paper, holding it out to her. "That's where it is if—"

She leaned forward, cutting him off with a kiss. Sighing at her, he tucked the piece of paper into her pocket, nipping lightly at her mouth. She kept her eyes closed when she pulled away, turning quickly and getting out of the car.

Looking over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of him pulling away, then straightened her shoulders as she walked through the casino, watching each game with a critical eye. 

In reality, she knew a backroom game would prove more profitable, but she wasn't greedy. A few hundred bucks was all she needed. 

After a moment, she decided on a simple poker game and, keeping her gait even and relaxed, exchanged her cash for chips before snagging a chair abandoned by a slightly drunk woman. As she expected, there were no real players at the table and she won seven hundred dollars quite easily.

Chewing on her lip, she stared at the chips in front of her, then placed her bet for the next hand.

A man who had been trying to catch her eye from across the casino sat next to her as yet another person abandoned the game in search of more fruitful entertainment. Every hair on the back of her neck stood at attention when his arm brushed hers.

He smiled at her and her heart skidded to a stop, the cards in her hand trembling. Leaning over to whisper in her ear, he said, "What's it been? A few decades, golden girl?"

She startled when the dealer told her it was her turn. Not paying attention, she called, sagging a little in relief when the Collector pulled away to make his own bet.

Too late, she realized there was absolutely nothing in her current hand. Grimacing, she watched as three hundred dollars slipped away, but then she caught a hint of a smile in her periphery, and decided that really wasn't the worst thing happening here.

Instinctively, she tried to reach out to Sirius, before remembering their link had been cut.

The cards were returned to the dealer, and the Collector grabbed her elbow. Speaking in her ear again, he said, "Let me buy you a drink."

"I'm busy," she replied stiffly, and the dealer's eyes flicked over to her. The woman raised a questioning eyebrow at her in a less than discrete way and Galloway could have blessed her.

The Collector's fingers dug into her arm, making her wince a little and he whispered, "You let me buy you a drink, or people start losing their Souls."

"You can't do that?" She immediately grimaced at the tentativeness in her voice and he laughed, the sound vulgar.

"Just like those two idiot demons couldn't make a mess out of that diner, right?" he taunted and her hand twitched, knocking over a stack of chips. They clattered as they slid across the table, and the three other people at the game looked over at the two of them.

The man smiled at them, relaxing back into his chair, his arm draped across the back of hers. She saw the uncomfortable way the other people around them suddenly looked toward their cards, and realized she should have done something ridiculous like standing up and slapping him across the mouth.

Now, she looked like nothing more than a difficult girlfriend.

Another round went by, and she somehow managed to win back a hundred before the Collector leaned over again. He whispered, "Get up. Now."

She hesitated, then her eyes went wide as the dealer began to cough, clutching at her chest. Looking over, she found the Collector's hand subtly extended toward the woman, and she knew what he was doing.

"Stop!" she hissed, standing up. Immediately the dealer stopped choking.

The Collector just smiled, then said, "Don't forget your chips."

Her eyes closed for the briefest of moments and, after making sure the dealer was okay, she swept her chips off the table into her hand, excusing herself from the game. The Collector did the same, grabbing her elbow, keeping her pressed up against him.

"You can pull out someone's Soul without even touching them?" she asked, revulsion evident in her voice.

"You can't?" he said, contempt obvious in his. His grip tightened painfully as he steered her toward the bar. He forced her to sit down, then tilted his head.

Pale blue eyes drilled into hers as he said, "In about three minutes, you're going to walk out of this casino with me."

"No. I'm not," she rasped, her throat tight. Bluffing, she waved a lazy hand and said, "If you really want to kill all of these people, go ahead. But you aren't taking me to Hell."

Again, he just smiled patiently. He ordered a martini, which seemed a little on the nose to Galloway. Taking a sip, he grimaced at it, then said, "Rollins."

"Sorry?" she asked, her mind only half engaged, the other half scrambling for a way out of this.

"You don't remember. I'm Rollins."

She blinked slowly at him, watching as he took another sip of his drink. Then a small laugh burst out of her. The Collector's dark eyebrows shot up toward his darker hair. Still laughing a little, she said, "Why on earth would I care what your name is?"

"You were politer before," he said with a frown.

She just snorted, her eyes going to the exit just over his shoulder. It would open onto the back of the casino, most likely onto a deserted alley. It was quickly dismissed.

"One minute," Rollins all but crooned. She couldn't remember if he worked with a Hound or not.

His forefinger glided around the rim of his glass, the clear liquid rippling a little. Perhaps it wouldn't be impossible to just run. The thought drifted across her mind, which immediately went blank, plotting her course through the teeming crowd.

It was worth a shot.

Galloway grabbed his drink and threw it into his face, the gin burning into his eyes. He howled in pain and she swept his stool out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor. Wide eyes turned to stare and she could see security heading their way.

Shaking her hair back she darted through the crowd, ducking arms and skidding around waiters with loaded trays. A portly man stepped into her way and she turned sharply, nearly losing her footing as she whirled around him.

Her eyes were glued on the doors, then everything went crashing into darkness.

An eery howl ripped through the air, over the shocked screams of the tourists and she stopped caring about running into people. They gasped in pain and surprise as her elbows cut into them, bulling her way through the last of the crowd.

The doors beckoned to her.

She crashed past one more security guy. She was out.

Cold air rushed over her, but she didn't stop, sprinting down the concrete sidewalk, indignant shouts following in her wake.

Another howl chased after her.