"When you're running out of time, it's hard to know how fast you're going."

- Unknown

                                                                            ***

Galloway stared abysmally at the mirror. Sirius, who seemed disinclined to get dressed until he absolutely had to, snickered from where he lounged on the bed. In disgust, she stepped out of the pants that were about four inches too short and three sizes too big.

Chucking the pants at his head, she said, "You're not helpful."

"I'm working in my own self interest." He tossed the pants to the side. His gaze wandered down the length of her legs and, with a wicked grin, he said, "That shirt's got blood all over it. Maybe you should lose that, too."

She flipped him off, going back to riffling through the extra closet in what she was pretty sure was a guest bedroom, feeling minor guilt over the imminent theft. With a sigh, he got off the bed and ambled over to where she was digging into the very back of the closet. His hand skimming along her thigh made her jump and he used that as a way to move her gently to the side.

At her irritated huff, he said, "This could take a while and we have demons chasing after us."

She made a sound of disbelief before throwing her hands into the air and flopping down on the bed. She draped an arm over her eyes, her leg aching. When she reached down to rub it, her fingers came away slick and she looked down to find the skin had split in several places. Apparently it hadn't been as healed as she'd thought when she woke up this afternoon.

Pulling at the sheet, she held it to the wound, gritting her teeth as the pressure sent a zing of pain up her spine. She watched as Sirius shuffled around through the clothes, biting her lip as the muscles in his back shifted tantalizingly beneath his scarred skin. 

Her mouth a little dry, she swallowed, fighting the urge to scramble over and taste the skin there. 

Sirius turned in triumph, then grinned when he caught her looking. Refusing to be embarrassed, she instead let her gaze trail over his chest and abdomen. Then, she gave him a little grin she knew would make him crazy. 

He made a small snarling sound and took a hasty step toward her, but his attention was caught by the blood on her leg. Hissing with frustration he sat beside her, handing her a lump of wadded up material. She shook it out to find a sleeveless sun dress with blue and indigo flowers splashed across a white field. 

His fingers hovered over the split flesh and she said, "I didn't give it enough time to really close up."

Sirius swiped at a small trickle of blood with his forefinger, then held it up to the light. After a moment, he looked at her. "Do I just wrap it again?"

"Yeah. It feels like it's mostly closed up, but..." She hesitated, afraid to remind him of what happened, then decided it would be better to just own it. "It's weird that it's taking so long to heal. I mean, I've had way worse, this should have closed up by now."

He shot her a foul look before sticking the bloody finger into his mouth. Galloway blinked, then scowled at him. "Do I have to tell you that was weird?" she asked, crossing her arms.

Sirius scoffed and started to shred the already destroyed sheet. With another foul look, he said, "The blood of sinners was everything a growing pup needed downstairs."

Her scowl softened and she watched as he tied the strips of cloth in a neat line up her leg. Biting her lip every time he lifted a red-stained finger to his mouth, she finally asked, "Do you still need it now?"

Sirius looked up at her thoughtfully, then showed her the sticky red still coating the pad of his thumb. Not breaking eye contact, he moved his hand to his mouth. She watched, a little disconcerted, as his tongue moved over the pad, tasting her blood. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she waited for him to stop being a creep and explain.

He made a small sound of offense. Sticking his tongue out at her, he said, "Rude."

When he fell silent, she raised an eyebrow and pushed lightly at his shoulder. He rocked sideways, then sighed. Bowing his neck a little, he cocked his head and gave her a side-eye. "You sure you want the answer?"

She blinked twice. "I asked, didn't I?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement before he stood up. He looked around for a second, then gathered his clothes before dragging them on. At some point earlier that day he must have found a shirt. Her foot tapped impatiently against the wooden floor and he smiled at her. 

"Just making sure," he said softly, coming to stand before her.

He nudged at her shoulder and Galloway lay back, looking up as he hovered over her on his hands and knees. Running her hand up under the uncharacteristic plain black t-shirt, she said, "Sirius, come on. Tell me."

He leaned closer, his nose grazing along the side of her throat, right where her carotid ran. She shuddered when he bit her, his teeth sharp but gentle. Lips moving against her skin in an exceedingly distracting manner, he said, "We kind of need it, in the same way you kind of need a bacon cheeseburger or a glass of whiskey. It tastes good and our bodies do use it. But like whiskey or a cheeseburger, some taste amazing, some are just okay and some aren't worth the cash you spent on it."

His tongue traced the line of the artery, then he pulled back, looking at her warily. When she didn't say anything, he explained, "Very rarely do we get to taste the top shelf stuff. People getting bled in Hell don't taste like you."

She stared blankly at him for a long time and he opened his mouth to say more, but she clamped a hand over his lips. He looked down at her, eyes half-lidded and guarded. She pursed her lips, mulling that over. 

Giving him a half-smile, she asked, "I'm not going to wake up with holes in the side of my neck, am I?"

His look of startled indignation was enough to make her laugh and she removed her hand. Sirius growled, "I'm not a vampire." He said it like it was a dirty word, which only made her laugh harder. 

Grumbling, he got up and Galloway gulped in a breath, trying to stifle her mirth. When she had herself under control, she sat up and grabbed the dress Sirius had dredged up. The material smelled like mothballs, which made her think it hadn't been worn for a while. Taking her ruined shirt off, she slipped the dress on, pleased to find that it was only a bit loose.

Sirius was looking out the window and she bit her lip, thinking over what he'd just told her. If she was being honest, it kind of freaked her out. But at the same time, it seemed only natural that a Hellhound would be fed blood. 

It was just harder to ignore the part of him that was a monster when he did inhuman things like that.

Shaking that thought away, she cleared her throat, making him look at her. Turning, she wound her hair up out of the way. "A little help?"

She didn't hear him walk across the room and shivered when he pulled the zipper of the dress up. Closing her eyes, she tried to pretend like they were just something normal. Like this was her dress and this was their house and they were just going to some stupid backyard barbeque.

But even she couldn't hold that illusion. It sifted away like dust in the wind and she opened her eyes when he placed his mouth on her bare shoulder. She let her thick hair tumble down and Sirius turned his face into the blonde mass, breathing deeply through his nose.

After a moment of just standing there like that, she asked, "What does it taste like?"

"That's rather ghoulish," he teased. When she didn't say anything, he sighed. "I'm still working it out." His tongue flicked against the side of her neck and he murmured, "The way sun-baked grass smells. That one's always there."

She leaned back into him when he moved her hair to the side, teeth grazing her skin. After another moment, he said, "Cinnamon. And gasoline." She flinched when one of his canines slipped through her skin, creating a miniature slice. He muttered an apology, but didn't move his mouth. Still very quiet, he finished, "Apples and...woodsmoke."

"I thought you were still working it out?" she sighed.

"I am." His mouth curved into a smile she felt instead of saw. "The woodsmoke is new. The rest is still tangled up. It's not a puzzle I intend to solve too quickly."

"We need to go," she whispered, then looked around at the mess they'd made.

She had the urge to leave some cash to pay for the damages, but they were down to their last few hundred bucks and she knew they couldn't afford to be so casual with money anymore. After another moment's hesitation, she reluctantly shoved her feet into her boots, deciding that a note would most likely be in poor taste.

Sirius gave her outfit a bemused once over, and she pointed a warning finger at him. He held his hands up in surrender, jingling the keys at her. Galloway bit her lip and cautiously rose up onto her toes. Pain shot through her leg and she sighed. Settling back down, she hissed, "You'll have to drive until this heals more."

Once they were in the car and had left the house far behind, Sirius asked, "So what's the plan now, since the last one got blown to hell?"

He frowned at his choice of words, but Galloway just said, "I'm not sure yet. We need to lay low..." She trailed off as he snorted, but when he just waved a hand, she finished by saying, "I want to find a way to contact Logan, or at the very least Rhys. They might have something about closing Hell up tight."

"Sure," Sirius said, giving her a disparaging sideways look, "but until then, what do we do?"

Now she shook her head. Slumping back in the seat, she grimaced as her stomach growled. "We get something to eat."

This brought a self-satisfied smirk to his face and she rolled her eyes. Then she smirked when his stomach growled. He reached across her, digging into the glovebox, swearing when he couldn't find his sunglasses. Squinting against the early evening sunlight, he swatted the visor down. "Breakfast for dinner or dinner for dinner?"

"You said bacon cheeseburger back there and that's all I can think about," she groused. "So anyplace that will get me one of those."

Sirius chuckled and nodded. Galloway let her thoughts wander as they left this town and passed through another until, finally, Sirius seemed to deem them far enough away. She stifled a small laugh when he pulled into a twenty-four hour diner in the third town. Apparently her own tastes had rubbed off on the Hellhound in the year or so they'd been together.

Walking inside, Galloway frowned when the only seats available were those at the counter. Sirius took her hand and led her to the farthest corner. They sat and ordered, then Sirius slumped down, his arm across the back of her seat. She looked around the diner, then rubbed at her temples.

Sirius kissed her shoulder. "What's the worst euphemism for sex?"

She choked on the soda she'd just taken a sip of then covered her mouth, grinning. "What?"

With a grin of his own, he repeated the question. 

Deciding to play along, she tapped a finger against her chin. "Making love."

She grimaced and rolled her eyes as she said it and Sirius laughed, nodding. With a grimace of his own, he said, "Kind of makes your skin crawl, doesn't it?"

Leaning forward, she propped her chin on her fist. "I'll take random and weird for eight hundred, Alex."

"You're nervous," he said with a shrug, taking a sip of her soda. "You don't know what to do next. But you don't have a headache anymore."

She stared at him and he stared back, his expression soft. Leaning to the side, she kissed him, taking longer than was probably acceptable in public. His fingers tangled in her hair and she slid into his mind, just to be overwhelmed by what she found there.

A plate chinking on the counter made her jerk away from him and she looked at the waitress, who looked at Sirius, then winked at her. Galloway blushed, staring down at the cheeseburger in front of her.

Sirius laughed under his breath and scraped his teeth against her ear before turning his attention to his own plate. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Like what you see?"

Picking up a stray piece of bacon, she popped it in her mouth. "It's like a storm in there."

"Exactly," he said with relish.

Mulling this over, she bit into a french fry. She shook her head and, around a mouthful of food, said, "I don't suppose you have any ideas about what we could be doing?"

Sirius heaved a sigh. "I kind of do, but I'm not sure you're going to like it very much."

"Try me," she said absently, attempting to keep her bacon from escaping off the top of her burger. The vinyl of the seat stuck to the bottom of her thigh and she shifted, trying to get the fabric of the dress to fall just right so she wasn't sticking to the seat.

He drummed his fingers against the counter before swiping one of her fries. "He's going to find us at some point. He'll send someone to come get us. We need to make it cost more than it's worth to keep coming after us."

"Meaning?" she asked, wiping the grease off of her fingers with a napkin.

"Theron won't want to lose Souls."

Her gaze jerked up to him and his mouth twisted into a scowl. Answering her unspoken question, he said, "We need something that will kill them permanently. Exorcism will just give any demon that comes our way a chance for a second round."

Galloway looked down into the dark depths of her Coke. "Yeah...but exorcisms also leave at least a fifty percent chance that the host will live."

"Come on," he said, voice low. "You know it's only like twenty-five percent. And you aren't doing those people much of a favor leaving them alive." She didn't look at him and he muttered, "Told you you wouldn't like it. And that's only half of it."

Her stomach sank. "What's the other half?"

His claws tapped against the counter before he balled his fingers into a fist. Shifting uncomfortably, he dropped his arm off the back of her chair and said, "I have a friend in Vegas who happens to have a demon blade she might be persuaded to part with."

Memories of the last time they'd been in Vegas swirled up and she gave him a droll stare. "What kind of friend?"

"The same kind of friend Rhys is to you," he said, voice unpleasant. "One with more benefits than being a good conversationalist."

Her mouth tightened and she looked away from him. After a minute of angry silence on her part and frustrated silence on his, he said, "Galloway, I've been around since gladiator fights were a thing. I've made a few friends over the years, just like you have."

She flinched at the reprimand and bit her lip, knowing she was being stupid. It irritated her when he was right, especially when he knew he was right. Shaking off her irrationality, she turned to him. 

"What's the cost? Everything has a price."

He studied her for a few more seconds, like he didn't believe she had dropped the subject of his past indiscretions so easily. When she just nibbled at a fry, he said, "I don't know. She likes... substances. Anything supernatural she can play with and sell to humans. She has a particular fondness for venoms and poisons."

"Sounds lovely." Galloway grimaced. Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, she said, "So...what? We go talk to her, then go on whatever wild goose chase she wants us to and pay her for something that's going to kill the demon's meat suit, too?"

"Well it sounds bad when you put it that way," he grumbled. He rubbed at his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "In the grand scheme of things we've got more to worry about than a few humans who have a short life span anyway."

"You're being terrible," she informed him. When he just raised an impassive eyebrow, she said, "I don't like the idea of killing people if I don't have to."

"I know," he responded. "But they all die if you get caught. So you can sacrifice a few for the greater good, or you can worry about saving the lives of people who won't thank you for it after the demon's gone."

She scowled when he put an emphasis on the word sacrifice and pushed her half-finished burger away. The bell above the door chiming was distant in her ears as she tried to keep her temper under control. 

The worst part was that she knew he had a point, both about the humans and the demons. It was just that she'd had herself half-convinced that betraying Hell meant she didn't have to kill any human ever again.

She went to get up, but Sirius grabbed her wrist and forced her back into her seat. She opened her mouth to tell him to let her go, but he shook his head, staring hard at her.

After a moment, his eyes widened in horror. Galloway's scowl faded into a puzzled frown. She opened her mouth to ask what his problem was, but he shook his head minutely, warning her to be quiet. Meaningfully, he looked over her shoulder but wouldn't let her turn around.

Quickly, he flagged the waitress down. With a charming smile, he asked, "Would you mind bringing us our check?"

The woman twittered some positive response, but Galloway wasn't paying attention. She'd just tried to ask him silently what he was doing and she knew why he'd looked so distressed. 

Something had severed the mental connection between them. 

Sirius took a drink from her soda. "I really hate when the universe proves me right."

Galloway tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and raised an eyebrow. His finger tapped twice against the counter and she dipped her chin in acknowledgement. Giving him a disgusted sigh, she turned her head away, like she was irritated with him.

Two people in business attire with untouched cups of coffee in front of them caught her attention, but she didn't let her gaze linger. Instead, Sirius used his foot to whirl her stool back around until she was facing him and she crossed her arms. The waitress brought their check, giving the two of them an odd look as Sirius paid.

Then, he stood and grabbed her by the upper arm, dragging her into the diner's walkway. Stiffly, she jerked away from him and pretended to overbalance, smacking her palms into one of the tables. Startled, everyone looked up, trying to discern where the noise had come from and she swiped the salt shaker off the table.

With a haughty toss of her hair, she stalked down the aisle, the salt hidden in the folds of her skirt. Sirius let out an aggravated hiss as he trailed after her. She strode to the door, then tapped her foot impatiently when Sirius was held up by an older man wearing a beat-up straw cowboy hat. 

The man looked at Galloway with a wry grin and said, "Son, if I was you, I'd just apologize now. Your girl looks like quite the firecracker."

Sirius laughed, his eyes flicking to the man and woman sitting at the counter, before he nodded. "You have no idea."

The man smiled again at Galloway, who couldn't stop a small, acknowledging grin of her own. Sirius finally got to the door, but as soon as she pushed on it, she knew they were screwed. It was frozen shut.

The woman demon turned, flashing black eyes before she tilted her head. "Miss O'Malley?" Sirius stiffened next to her and Galloway slowly turned to face the two fully. The woman smiled. "I thought that was you."

Keeping her voice low, Galloway said, "Why don't we take this somewhere it won't make too much of a mess?"

The demon laughed and Galloway scooted to the side as the man with the straw cowboy hat and a grey-haired lady he was with left the diner. The man winked at Sirius, who gave him a tense smile. 

The male demon clucked his tongue, like she was being ridiculous. "Theron doesn't care what it takes to get you."

Before she could even begin to form a protest, both demons snapped their fingers. There was a wet explosion. A rending, ripping sound that was catastrophic in her ears. Something warm and slippery sloshed over her in a wave. Galloway opened her eyes slowly, her eyelashes sticking together to find everything painted in a thick coat of scarlet, including herself, Sirius and the two demons.

Her hands shook and her stomach lurched. She looked down at her shaking hands, then looked at Sirius, who seemed as surprised as she did, but less sickened. He tried to wipe the blood from his eyes, but it was useless. He shook his head, viscous droplets spraying off his hair and said, "Well, that was dramatic."

"It's not often Theron gives us free rein," the woman said, peering with interest at what appeared to be a piece of someone's liver. "We thought we'd have a little fun. You two have had plenty."

Sirius growled and strands of darkness started to wrap around him. Galloway stepped to the side, recognizing the beginnings of a shift. Before he got the chance, the male demon threw a handful of shimmering powder at him.

Galloway thought it odd that he was wearing a pair of leather gloves and she watched in some confusion as the powder caught Sirius full in the face. Her confusion disappeared immediately when he screamed and crumpled to his knees, hands clawing at his face.

Silver, she thought with horror. 

Before the demons could do anything else, she smashed the top off the salt shaker, dumping the grains into her palm. She whispered a quick blessing and the salt tingled against her skin. She threw the salt at the demons much in the same fashion the male had thrown the silver, then bolted toward the kitchen.

The demons shrieked and she heard as they slipped and slid in the blood. She felt something snatch at the back of her dress and twisted sideways, lashing a foot out. Her heel connected solidly with a soft belly and the demon cursed again.

Ignoring the guts splayed across the counter, Galloway rolled over the top of it, landing on her hands and knees on the tile floor. Blinking blood and sweat out of her eyes, she looked up to find a shotgun sitting right under the register.

God she loved small towns. 

She checked that it was loaded, then popped up. Something silvery and sharp whipped past her head and she barely took the time to aim. She pulled the trigger, watching in satisfaction as the buckshot tore half of the demon's face away and mangled most of its neck and shoulder.

The demon dropped to the ground, screaming and writhing. The other demon hopped over the counter and she shot again. The buckshot caught him in the stomach, barely making him flinch. She backed away slowly, then looked up at the silver knife that had been thrown at her, imbedded in a poster for Rio Bravo.

She jerked it out of Dean Martin's cheek, holding it between herself and the demon.

He smiled at her, like she was a child who had done something foolish and adorable. He took a step toward her and she braced herself, then straightened as a whirlwind of black launched itself over the counter and into the demon. They scrambled, Sirius' claws and teeth savaging the demon's chest and throat.

Galloway started toward the door to find the female demon trying to get up. Yelling for Sirius, she took the silver knife and stabbed it through the demon's throat, cursing when it wasn't long enough to pin her to the floor. The demon gurgled and fell back. Galloway used the last shell to bust the glass out of the doors.

Sirius leapt over the counter, the skin on the side of his face bubbling and hissing. She grabbed his hand and they ran to the car. Gasping, he shoved the car keys into her hands. "You drive, I can't see."

A terrified moan escaped her as she looked at where the silver had burned into his eyes, leaving them milky white. He touched her face and said, "It'll heal. It's happened before."

Quivering, she helped him into the car, then ran around to the driver's side.

After they had left the town far behind, she started swearing. Long and loud and filthy. Sirius didn't offer any commentary. His jaw was tight with pain and she had to roll the window down as the smell of sizzling flesh hit her nose.

Once she'd gotten that out of her system, she looked down at the destroyed dress. "How did they find us?"

"Car?" Sirius grunted, his hands gripping at the legs of his jeans to keep himself from trying to claw the silver out of his skin.

She looked at him, her stomach doing backflips that she thought might be enough to make her puke. Like he could sense her eyes on him, he said, "It's pretty easy to track. We need a different car."

With horror, she realized he was probably right. But they couldn't do anything about it yet. Her hands shaking, she asked, "What can I do?"

A high-pitched whine slipped from between his teeth and he panted, "Unless the flecks are big enough for you to dig out, nothing. I just have to wait for them to work themselves out."

She turned his face towards hers and knew there was nothing she could do. Like powdery white sand, the silver glimmered at her where it was eating through his skin. There was no way she could remove them.

Sirius bared his teeth at her and said, "So, Vegas it is, then?"