Night's Omen

Prompt List

• Masquerade
• Unfair
• Lost
• Loyalty
• Tease
• Order
• Identity
• Funeral
• Angel
• Death

  Two things about Claudia were constant truths: She was always honest, and she was always loyal. Her word was her bond, and she paid her debts as she had the chances. One debt, however, she considered unable to be paid, and for that she owed an eternity of favours. Since she was essentially the hand of Death, a corporeal (when she wanted, anyways) extension of His command and His wishes, to be owed favours from her was a very good thing. Fortunately for Claudia, there were very, very few who had ever achieved that sort of status with her.

One such man she even considered a friend. He was the only one, as a matter of fact. Death found it amusing, and chose to tease her gently as she returned to His embrace once her work had been completed. She took it in stride, because the man in question also had a habit of keeping Death very busy indeed, which He enjoyed. Death did not like to be idle. Idle hands, after all, are the devil's playthings.

She had stood outside of the door to the large apartment, fingers running along the wall to the right of it, tracing an invisible sigil that had been written within the boards and then plastered over. She smiled a little to herself, mostly at the thorough nature of the man who dwelled within, and proceeded to ignore every last ward that he'd carefully and painstakingly set into place. When Eli returned home from Heather's house after the brief, rather painful reunion with her husband, he knew something was wrong before he even opened the door. He braced himself, raising his power, and walked in.

"I'm really not in the mood for this shit right now, so if you could just leave and come back tomorrow, I'd be happy to fight," he announced in greeting. He threw his keys down on the table that sat next to the door, then reached up to flick on the light. He only said, "Hm," when it didn't come on. "Well, I guess this day is going to end badly after all."

"I wouldn't quite say that," the feminine voice said from the darkness. There was sound indicating movement, and the pretty, pale brunette was illuminated with a click as she turned on the lamp next to the couch. She stood, a small smile on her mouth at the stunned look on Eli's face (which meant he only blinked rapidly), and walked to him, holding her arms out for a hug. It was returned, though he was obviously still surprised, and she dropped a light kiss on his cheek before pulling back.

"Now, set your things down and come tell me why I'm here," she said, walking away from him. She bypassed the couch and went into the kitchen, where she leaned down to open the fridge, helping herself to a fat, bright green apple. On the counter in a bag was the Chinese food she'd had delivered for him. "I still remember your favourite," she informed him before taking a bite of the apple.

"I didn't summon you, Claudia," he said, but he followed her into the kitchen after dropping his bag and jacket down in the living room. He folded his arms and leaned against the counter, watching her make herself absolutely at home within his kitchen. "And, I hate to say it, because it's wonderful to see you, but I'm really not in the mood for company right now."

"You're not even going to look in the bag?" she asked. She sounded disappointed.

"I already ate," he said grimly.

She raised an eyebrow, jumping up with cat-like grace to seat herself on the counter across from him. "Was it awful?" she asked.

"In a manner of speaking," he replied flatly.

Claudia tilted her head, then lobbed the apple core into the disposal side of his sink. "Okay, maybe 'summon' wasn't the right word. Truth be told, I was handling some last-minute suicides in the city and you sort of just popped across my radar. I came by to check on you, but I was trying to make it look less concerned, because you never did like attention." She paused. "So what's wrong?" She slid off the counter as she spoke, taking the food and putting it in the fridge so he could have it later.

"Would you believe me if I said I don't want to talk about it?" he asked, motioning for her to hand him a bottle of water.

She held it out for him, then shut the door. "As in, never? Or, not tonight? Because I hate to remind you, but I do have an eternity," she told him lightly.

"I'd prefer never, but I'll take tonight if you can refrain from bringing it up again until tomorrow," he said, knowing he probably should talk about it but not being able to bring himself to talk about it.

"I can handle that," she acknowledged. "Want me to stay, or should I go?"

He eyed her critically, and for a full minute, during which she stood absolutely still, watching him watch her with her big eyes. "Stay," he said, finally. "You came all this way," he reasoned.

"I really can go," she offered. "I just... worry," she finished, a frown crossing her pretty face.

"I know you can," he reminded her. "But it's better if you don't. And anyways, we need to have a little chat about you just ignoring my wards and coming right in. You know, that could have ended very badly."

"For who? Me?" she asked, blinking innocently.

"Well, certainly not for me," he said, laughing just a little.

She walked past him to the couch, dropping down on it. She didn't say anything as she passed him, just patted his shoulder and shook her head, a little laugh her only response to that. "You're so lucky I like you, Elias," she mumbled to herself fondly with another shake of her head.

"What was that?" he asked loudly as he walked back to his bedroom.

"Nothing, dear!" she called, her voice as innocent as her expression had been before.

She heard him say "Riiiiiight," as he finally vanished out of earshot, and laughed again to herself as she pulled off the knee-high boots she wore. She wiggled her toes and stretched out on his couch, stuffing a pillow behind her head and looking up at the ceiling. He was lucky she liked him; he didn't have to tell her that something was wrong. If he hadn't officially summoned her, then something he'd felt had tugged on the few heartstrings she had left and called her to come anyways. She was loyal to a good man, that much she knew. Whatever had happened, whatever he was dealing with, Claudia would stay around and ensure that it was handled properly and thoroughly.

After all, what was the point of being the hand of Death if you didn't get to abuse your power every once in a while in the name of a friend?

The rain was heavy, coming down in sheets. Thunder echoed across the city, and lightning flashed in blinding bolts. It was the storm of the century, or so the news had said, and yet, work was calling and she had to go. There had been a horrific twelve-car pile-up on the bridge and the ambulances were still bringing in survivors. The ER was understaffed; so many people hadn't even been able to come in because of the very storm that had caused the chaos they were now hit with.

She ran to her car, swearing because she forgot her umbrella, and nearly slipped on the slick sidewalk. Her phone rang again and she pressed it to her ear as she started her vehicle, a mid-2000s Honda Accord. "I'm on my way!" she shouted over the rain as it pounded against her windshield. "I'll get there as fast as I can!"

Those had been the last words she'd ever spoken.

Claudia wandered the street where she'd crashed for three years after it had happened. She couldn't figure out how to leave. She just paced endlessly, trying to talk to people as they passed her by. Every once in a while, someone would see her, and they'd try to offer her their phone to call someone to come get her, but when she reached for it, her hand would go right through it. Then they'd run away, and she'd be left there by herself, alone and lost and most of all, scared.

The first time it had happened, it had been a guy and his pretty girlfriend who actually had a discussion about helping her. Finally, the girl pried the phone from his hands, ("Graham!" she'd snapped. "Just give me the phone and I'LL do it!") and Claudia couldn't, for the life of her, understand why the guy was so terrified of her, where his girlfriend had just walked right over and held it out. ("Here you go," she'd said. "Hopefully your work picks up so you can tell them you'll be late.") Claudia had tried to reach out and touch the girl, to tell her how much she appreciated her help, and then her boyfriend had yanked her away and run. (She'd yelled that she was sorry over her shoulder, then started telling him how he'd have to get over his fear sooner or later if he wanted to do any good with 'ghosts'.)

Ghost?

She'd stopped bothering people after that. It all made sense, though. Why nobody would stop for her, why she couldn't seem to leave the block. Why they'd avoid the spots where she seemed to stand the longest, and why, for some reason, people always dropped calls when they got near her. She remembered somewhere that she'd heard ghosts were made of negative ions, which is why AV equipment could pick them up. She told herself that she'd have to stop falling asleep watching those stupid 'Ghost Hunter' reality shows, then sadly remembered that she wouldn't ever get the chance to see another one again.

And every night, she'd relive the car crash. A 'Death Echo', it was called. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it was terrifying and painful and she wanted to leave so it would just stop happening.

One day, she'd finally had enough, and she just sat down on the sidewalk and started to cry. She didn't even realize someone was talking to her at first, not until she'd finally looked up.

"Why are you crying?" he asked. He was crouched down next to her, hand out on a parking meter for balance. It was almost dusk, and the street was mostly void of people - and anyways, nobody seemed to look twice in New York City when someone appeared to be speaking to thin air.

She stopped crying almost immediately aside from a few sniffles here and there, wiping her eyes. "You can see me?" she asked, unable to hide her shock.

The man frowned, then seemed to realize something that he didn't say, and just sighed and shook his head. "Well, yeah, I guess I can," he said, his voice almost wry. "But, nevermind that. What's wrong? I mean, aside from the obvious," he added sarcastically. He smiled after that, a genuine smile, and held his hand out to her. "Come on, get up."

Claudia held her hand out, still baffled and obviously looking like it, but she felt his fingers clasp firmly around hers as he pulled her to her feet. She wiped the back of her jeans off out of habit, then hugged her arms to herself as she looked up at the sky. "It's almost dark," she said, her voice full of worry. "It's going to happen in a few minutes."

"What's going to happen?" he asked curiously.

She pressed her lips together and looked at him again. He was looking her dead in the eyes, which she wasn't used to, and she lowered her own to her shoes, uncomfortable. "I'm going to die," she whispered. "Every night. It just keeps happening." And she started to cry again, because how could she not?

"No, you're not," he said firmly.

She laughed through her tears. "You sound pretty sure of yourself, mister. I've been here for days and days. I lost count, I don't even know what year it is anymore. Sometimes people see me, but most of the time they don't. You're the first person in a long time that's actually stopped to talk to me, to really talk to me, but that doesn't change the fact. You'll leave, just like the rest, and then I'll be in that car again and..." she trailed off, lowering her head into her hands.

The street was totally empty now, and she knew that it was almost time.

He looked around, his skin crawling as a cold chill passed over him. He looked back at her, realizing that she was about to echo out if he didn't act. "What's your name, sweetheart?" he pressed gently.

"Claudia," she said. She paused. "I think," she added, her brows lowering in confusion. "It gets kind of hazy sometimes."

"Yeah, unfortunately the longer you stay, the harder it is to remember. The good thing is that you won't have to deal with any of that anymore," he said matter-of-factly. He knew something, obviously, and though he didn't seem to be malevolent, he did seem to be incredibly confident, and that made her nervous.

"What do you mean?" she asked, taking a step back from him. Was he going to hurt her?

He smiled a little. "Don't worry, Claudia, I'm not going to hurt you. Do you think maybe you'd like to go home, though?"

She studied him, biting her lip as she did so. "I'd think I'd like that very much," she whispered.

As Death had explained to Claudia, there was a place for every thing and every thing had its place. There was a natural order, and it was to be strictly adhered to unless a bargain had been stricken (and recognized) by the higher powers. Since she was indebted to the man who had saved her, Death did consider that to be a bargain, though occasionally His blind eye would be followed by a not-so-subtle reminder that eventually his soul would need to be collected. She would patiently say, "I know, Father," because He was a father to her, and He would smile and say, "I don't think you do."

Death had not always been Death, and many, many cycles before, He had been just as Claudia had been, and He had to experience those emotions. It had been difficult then, as it would always be for those in Death's employ. Death was not cruel or kind, it simply was, and unfortunately, Claudia was still so young and had much to learn before she could fully fill His shoes. He tried to teach her just as those before taught Him, but it was hard, because He knew that by the time Claudia was ready to inherit His title, the warmth and love that she radiated would fade away. He had chosen her for those qualities and more; He saw much of Himself in His darling Claudia, and it pained Him to know that it would be she who stripped her own self apart as time moved on, trading wants and desires for dedication to her duty. She would have no trouble remaining neutral, but only because she was willing to sacrifice herself in order to do it.

Death knew she would sacrifice herself, too, because He Himself had done it, just as those chosen who came before Him. Many mortal men and women thought highly of themselves, and thought that they could do His job. He had, on occasion, offered them the status of Reaper for a day to allow them to see what it was that His children like Claudia did on a daily basis, and they could never manage more than a few hours before having to admit defeat. It was easy to say who you would and would not kill when you had a choice in the matter; many people thought that Death simply operated on a whim, but it was not so.

  As Death had explained to Him once when He had been a youngling, there was a place for every thing and every thing had its place. There was a natural order, and it was to be strictly adhered to. That was how He explained it to Claudia, and that was how, one day, she would explain it to whomever she chose to take her place as Death.

  Claudia knew that what she was about to do would probably land her, at least temporarily, on Eli's bad side, but unfortunately, things had crossed some sort of event horizon with her, and she couldn't go on another second without putting in her two cents, let alone another full day. She'd been there on and off over the course of a few months, ever since the night where she'd felt his energy spike out and call her to his side. He still wasn't sure what had made her come, but she supposed it was his own self-esteem at that point denying him the possibility that someone could actually give a damn about him.

Claudia gave a few damns, actually.

She caught Heather alone at her house, which was good. If her husband had been there, he'd have been privy to a conversation that he probably would have been very unhappy to hear, especially because it would have confirmed worries and doubts that he already had. She rang the doorbell, choosing not to pass through uninvited if only because she didn't feel like having to drop the girl before she said what she came to say. Unfortunately, Claudia also grossly underestimated her own feelings on the matter; or, more specifically, her own feelings for Eli.

"Claudia?" Heather greeted her, confused, and rightly so. She'd only met the woman once or twice, and she'd been more than a little jealous that he'd had a friend who was apparently just staying with him, when for nearly two years Heather hadn't heard her name mentioned even once. She knew it wasn't one of those things she'd just missed, either, because when it came to Eli, she paid pretty close attention.

"Yeah, it's me," she said, offering only a brisk smile. "Listen, I need to talk to you. Like, right now," she said, her voice hurried. She sort of pushed her way in the house by simply stepping into the space where Heather had stepped back to open the door, and then shut it behind her before the Avian could do anything else.

Heather, sensing the urgency, but unsure as to the reason, allowed Claudia inside without complaint, if only because she was immediately worried that Claudia was going to have some bomb to drop about Eli. Her stomach immediately twisted into knots as she gestured for the living room wordlessly and turned, expecting Claudia to follow. When she turned around at the couch, she nearly jumped; Claudia was right behind her.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice obviously expressing her sudden nervousness about the thousand things that could potentially be wrong.

"What happened is you, Heather," Claudia said.

Heather hadn't expected that opening, and it was pretty clear from the shock as her mouth fell open. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice more riddled with confusion then indignation or anger - for the moment.

"Heather, I'm going to talk right now, and you're going to listen. Once I've said what I've got to say, the floor is open for comments, but not a moment sooner," Claudia said, laying down ground rules that she hoped the girl would obey, even though she sort of knew that she wouldn't. When Heather nodded, still too taken aback to really get defensive, Claudia almost smiled, but she was too mad to even try to be amused. That was definitely a bad sign.

"You've really fucked him up, do you know that? Yeah, I know your situation, probably better then you do," she added, because as a Reaper, she had been right there along Harvey as he and his friends had cut a bloody swath through the men who had taken him, "but what you did? What you're doing? There's no reason for it. You need to stop."

"Okay, I don't know what you're talking about, but I think it's time for you to go," Heather demanded, her voice shaking with anger. The girl had never been spoken to like that before, especially not about the situation at hand, and though on some level she knew that Claudia was right, she really didn't feel like discussing it - definitely not with the woman who seemed to have been helping Eli 'cope'.

"No, because I'm not finished yet," Claudia said harshly. "For almost two years, Eli basically took care of you. He played second chair to your situation, which included basically learning how to be a father and a husband. Why? Because he's a good guy, and because he'd never let someone he cared about fall on their face like how you did. I get it, you thought your husband was dead. Anyone can understand why you did what you did, and honestly, that part? That's not why I'm here, because if I were in your shoes, I might have done the same thing," she admitted. "But this? This whole Harvey/Heather/Eli love triangle? That shit stops right now. As in, today."

"Get out!" Heather yelled. She reached out, intending fully to grab Claudia by the arm, and as soon as she made contact, she regretted it. Claudia grabbed her wrist as soon as her hand made contact, then twisted it back in a strange position, and shoved her down onto the couch. Hard. Heather cried out, both in pain and surprise, and Claudia saw her muscles tense like she was going to try again.

"Don't," she warned her, pointing her finger. "Stay down, Heather. It'll be the smartest thing you'll ever do."

She didn't wait for the girl to acknowledge her, mostly because if Heather was actually stupid enough to get back up, Claudia would consider that fair game, and she'd absolutely wreck that girl. "As I was saying," she continued, taking a breath. "Your husband came back. He beat the odds and he came home, having survived for almost two years in a very bad place. I know you know he's a hunter, and I know that you can only imagine what he went through, so I don't have to tell you that surviving two days, let alone two years, is kind of a fucking big deal. And Eli left, because he knows that this isn't his home, you aren't his wife, that's not his son, and this isn't his fight. And yet, for some reason I can't fucking understand, as much as you supposedly love your husband, you can't seem to let it go!" She yelled the last bit, throwing her hands up to express her utter frustration.

"And it fucking baffles me. Here you have a man who loves you and pretty much thinks you hung the moon, and another one who's just about had the same conclusion. And you're being a horrible bitch to both of them. I don't know what's wrong with you, but I'm going to need you to get your shit together," she commanded. Heather opened her mouth, her eyes watery, and Claudia knew she was about to try and reason with her. She put a foot on the couch and shoved it, causing it to go back a few feet - more than she should have been capable of. That shut Heather up again.

"I don't even really care about your husband, to be honest. You two can figure your shit out or you can't, that's not why I'm here. I'm here because you've got Eli so fucked up in the head that he can barely function properly. You give him the life that he didn't think he was even capable of having and yeah, he did step up to the plate so that's kind of the breaks, but instead of just ending it like you should have, you're pretty much dragging this out as long as you possibly can because you can't make up your mind."

She was pacing now, and ran her hands through her medium-length dark brownish black hair, trying to calm herself down. "Heather," she said, this time her voice more calm. "Heather, you need to let him go. You need to stop leading him on. Stop calling him, stop telling him you love him. Stop fucking stopping by just to see him. You need to get on with your life, and you need to let him move on with his. What you're doing is cruel, and I find it hard to believe that you don't know you're doing it. Don't make him suffer because you can't make up your mind."

Heather finally got a chance to speak, and she did so with great volume. "What do you know?" she demanded, her voice echoing off the tile floor and giving her a good start. "How could you even possibly know what it is that he and I have?"

While Heather felt like she was pretty clever for asking that question, when Claudia turned back to look at her, she was stunned to see that the woman's glass-bottle green eyes were watery. "I know enough to know that you're being unfair," she said, her voice much less loud then it had been. "You don't know how lucky you are. You have a husband who would die for you, who almost did, just so he could get back to you. You've got a son and a beautiful life and all the love in the world. You also have a man who loves you, and instead of telling him that you're going to make things work out with your husband, which I know you are doing, you're just stringing him along because you can't stand the thought of him not being a part of your life."

She paused for a second, then all of the animosity drained from her voice. "You don't know how lucky you are. If I had even half a chance with Eli..." and she trailed off, putting her hands to her face for a second and closing her eyes. She took a deep breath and dropped her arms by her side, letting them hit her jeans with a loud sound. "It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that you're hurting him, and at this point, you're doing it on purpose. If you love him so much, then you need to make a choice. I don't even care which one you choose, but you need to choose one, and you need to do it soon. The next time I have to have this talk with you, I won't be so fucking friendly."

"This is your definition of friendly?" Heather asked, her voice sounding strangely high-pitched, as did the laugh that came after it. She was crying, but at least she was doing it quietly.

Claudia laughed in spite of herself, reaching up to wipe something away from her eyes. "When it comes to Eli, yeah, it is." She was quiet, then sighed. "I'm going to go, now. That was all I had to say. I don't...  You can tell him I was here, or you can't. I'm not going to try and act like this little issue is some big secret." She turned on her heel and headed to the door, but Heather got up and went after her, catching her as she stepped onto the porch.

"Wait!" she said sharply. "Claudia..." she hesitated, like she wasn't sure if she was going to like the answer.

"He's easy to love, Heather. But he doesn't love easily. So don't ruin it for the rest of us."

Heather only nodded, then shut the door, locking it behind her. She immediately went to her phone, pulling up Eli's contact information. She was about to call him when the door opened again and Harvey called out a loud, "Heather? You home?" and then came in, the sound of shuffling bags following him.

She set her phone down, wiped her eyes, and went to the door to see he had a few grocery bags with him.

"Hey," he greeted. He smiled, and she could see it was strained. "Figured I'd make that ziti I keep talking about. Or did you want something else?" he asked. He frowned. "You okay?" He didn't want to say, 'Have you been crying?' because it sort of put her on the spot, and lately she always acted like she was angry. He didn't want to set her off.

"Ziti sounds great!" she said, feigning cheer. She ended up just sounding tired, and reached out to take some of the bags from him. As he passed her, she stopped him and gave him a light kiss on his stubbly cheek. "I'm glad you're back," she said, then she turned and headed to the kitchen, leaving him standing in the hall with the bags.

"Me, too," he muttered, his eyebrows lofted as he wondered what the hell had happened while he'd been at the store to make her suddenly start being Heather again.

She had been somewhere else doing something else when it happened. What she had been doing before wasn't worth mentioning, because it didn't matter - anything before that point was inconsequential to her. In truth, she had left a man suffering in a hospital bed, just about to give him his release, when she felt Eli's power spike across her little spiritual connection she had with him. She stopped in mid-lean, withdrawing her outstretched hand and stepping back into thin air without another word. The man could suffer. They could all suffer, for all she cared. She had more important things to handle.

Above her, Death watched curiously at this new development, and He waited.

When Claudia emerged, still not willingly visible to anyone except Eli (as was one of her perks - she could be insubstantial or corporeal and choose either time whether she was visible to certain people or not, as could provide endless amusement when she was bored), she scanned the immediate area for Eli. She knew where she was, if only because she operated with a limited sort of omniscience that creatures who walked between the planes all possessed, and she didn't like the situation one bit. He'd been brought into some sort of torture area run by a group of men who would probably have been right at home rotting away in Guantanamo Bay, and Claudia could only guess that this was strictly a military job. It lacked the finesse of guild work, and as far as she knew, Crimson didn't really like Russian terrorists.

She walked through the room slowly, taking note of everything, until she saw a familiar boot - a boot that was connected by a leg to a torso and rest of a body that Claudia could safely say she recognized. Except, there were some obvious points of dispute - the cables connected to two spikes that stuck out of each leg were a new addition, as was the battery they were hooked up to. He had several gashes across his arms and chest, and it was very apparent that his ear would need a little bit of touching up after he got home. There was one obvious flaw, though, and that was the one that made Claudia feel a blind sort of rage that she seldom welcomed to her table.

Eli was dead.

She hurried to his body, knowing that between the shocks and the blood loss from the cuts and whatever had happened before, he'd probably been unable to jump start himself when he'd gone unconscious. If she'd had any idea he'd survived a crash as well as almost being beaten to death before this round of torture had begun, she'd probably have been a little more gentle with getting him back together, but as it was, she could tell he'd been out long enough that he'd start to forget recent shit, like where he was and what he'd been doing. Quickly, she yanked out the spikes, the charge getting enough interference from her to blow the battery, which showered sparks all over the floor. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't heal him, as she didn't have that capability due to the very nature of what she was, so when he came back into his body, it was going to hurt quite a bit.

His whole body was slumped forward, but still held in by straps, and she intended to cut him free right after the initial jolt. If she did it any time sooner, he'd hurt himself even more. Lucky for her, the wounds in his legs had been cauterized, and the spikes had only JUST missed the femoral artery. She dropped to her knees, leaning forward and placing her hands out, one on his shoulder and the other under his chin.

"It figures that these are the circumstances of our first kiss," she said sadly. With that, she leaned forward, and placed her soft lips on his own cold ones, the gesture held as she cradled his head with her hand, trying to pour her power into him. She felt him get thrown back in with a very hard jolt, and she opened her eyes and pulled away before he could try to attack her. When he saw that he was tied down, he began putting the pieces together. Fortunately, his comprehension was only a little hazy, and would come back to him momentarily.

"It's not your time, Eli," she informed him gently, hand falling to his shoulder again. "I'm going to cut you loose, and you're going to hurt an awful lot, but you're not going to drift off again. I'll try to get you out of here as quickly as I can," she promised him. "Just don't try to go overboard with your magic. You're kind of tethered by a thread right now until you can rest." And with that, she undid the straps that held him in the chair, offering her shoulder as she helped him stand up.

"So you have to kiss everyone?" he managed, coughing up a large mouthful of blood that he spit away from them. He stopped for a moment to grab his gun and knife, both things the man working on him had taken and put within his field of vision to drive him crazy. Checking the magazine for how many rounds he had left, he seemed satisfied that whatever he had would work for him until he could acquire more effective weapons.

"Only the ones I really like," she answered him. Just then, the door opened and Michaels came in, probably to pee on the dead body of the man who had caused him so much grief. He stopped short when he saw Eli not only standing, but standing with the help of a beautiful brunette who kind of just materialized with a shimmer out of thin fucking air.

"I don't know who you are, honey, but you should probably know that you won't be getting out of here alive," he informed her, raising his rifle and motioning for her to step away from Eli. When she didn't, he sighed, raising the gun to level it at them. "I did warn you," he concluded. Before he was able to pull the trigger, Claudia had vanished (where the fuck did she go?) and reappeared behind him.

"Time's up," she whispered, mouth lingering right beside his ear for a second. He tried to turn around, but she placed her hand on his shoulder, and as soon as she had done so, he simply dropped to the floor in a heap at her feet. She reached down and untangled the rifle from his dead body, then handed it to Eli's outstretched hand. "Do me a favour and stay behind me," she warned him. "And whatever you see, promise you won't hold it against me."

"Claudia, right now I really don't give a fuck what I see you do, as long as it results in me not being here anymore," he said, and he offered her a smile that he could barely muster as he stumbled a little. He hated having to be so careful, but every once in a while, his body sort of won out on that decision, and he had no choice.

"I warned you," she said cryptically. As she pushed open the door, she took a deep breath and pushed outward with her power. It flowed beyond her, like a sort of bubble around them, dropping the temperature in each room they crossed by a marginal degree. As soon as it passed over the men who inevitably would come after them, they simply dropped, their spirits leaving their bodies so quickly that they didn't even have time to call out. She was like some sort of silent plague, and everywhere they went, corpses seemed to follow. Eventually Eli threw down his gun because it hurt to hold onto it and Claudia obviously had them covered, but he still wished he'd gotten to harm a few of them.

As they crossed the last room and emerged into the room that would take them up above ground, an explosion rocked the building above them, causing the ground they stood on to shake violently. She turned back to Eli, motioning for him to come forward so she could help him up the incline. "Expecting anyone else?" she asked him curiously.

He smiled, his expression pained, and felt Claudia's arm firmly around him before his knees locked and gave out from fatigue. "In a manner of speaking. Try not to kill any of them," he grunted.

She backed away from the hatch, moving with him until they were both sitting down on the floor, Claudia trying to give him as much comfort as she could. "I won't," she assured him. She looked up as the hatch blew off of the door, and a man poked the barrel of a gun down first, then followed with his upper body after. He realized the room held only dead bodies, then dropped down, landing with some grace on his feet. As he saw Claudia and Eli on the floor, he jumped back in surprise.

"You managed to pick up a beautiful woman while in a secret torture base?" he asked, his accent and slightly throaty voice full of amusement. "Eli, darling, you much teach me your secret." And with that, he called up the hatch to the surface that he'd found 'them' and that 'yes, them'. In a blur of motion and lights and sterile needles and oxygen masks and nervous laughter, and one very long image of Emile staring over him with a dark expression on his face before simply patting his shoulder and vanishing, Eli was carted from the room to the surface and then into the carrier that the petite Lorelai had so cleverly landed on top of everything. It was like she simply defied all natural laws.

But one presence was very clear to him the entire time, and that was the dark-haired woman who sat with her hands around his own, who spoke to him softly and told him jokes and informed him where they were and what was happening, despite the fact that he was practically comatose. He couldn't express himself even if he was fully conscious; he was very aware that breathing tubes ran the length of his throat while something had worked its way further down to stop him from starving to death. He had a breathing mask clamped over his face and imagined other things that he didn't even want to know about at the moment.

As he laid there, listening to her steady, low voice as she told him a variety of stories from her 'best of: collecting the dead' adventures, he felt her magic lingering very near his own, keeping him propped up, if that were an appropriate way to describe it. He had a sudden realization that Heather wasn't the only angel in his life anymore; next to him, worried and afraid and vulnerable and yet somehow ready to end everyone's everything if they took one step on her that she somehow didn't agree with, was a Death Angel, and fortunately for everyone else at the moment, she seemed far more concerned with keeping Eli entertained then she did with any single one of them.

  While Eli hated hospitals, for very valid reasons, Claudia was strangely at home in them. It wasn't, however, as one might think. Sure, she spent much of her postmortem time in hospitals taking souls to the beyond, both on their deathbeds and those who had died but hadn't found a good way to cross over yet, but that wasn't entirely why. It so happened that Claudia had, in her lifetime, been a nurse. A very good one, actually. She'd been studying for pediatrics - the night of her own demise, they had so desperately needed her because several of the victims of the car accident she'd been called in for were, in fact, children. That was why, perhaps, she continued to wander the streets for so long after she should have crossed over: she had unfinished business.

Nobody had ever bothered to ask Claudia about her life before, though, and she'd never offered the information. Even Eli didn't know, though she supposed it was more because she never seemed to speak of her previous life, much like he didn't speak of his own past, and unless something directly came up, it simply wasn't necessary. There, in the hospital however, Claudia had some unfinished business that indirectly concerned Eli. Desmond was right, of course. Someone had to die that shouldn't have because Claudia had allowed Eli to live. That was her own folly, and unfortunately even the hand of Death was bound by that simple rule of balance.

It happened some time the in the night, a few days after the Smoke had come and gone. She roamed the halls, fingers dragging against the harsh, cold white plaster, and while it seemed as though her meanderings were aimless, Claudia had a purpose. She only moved slowly because despite having made her choice, she was trying to prolong it, if only for just a moment. As she rounded the corner of the ward she sought, someone behind her cleared their throat, and she turned, just as slowly as she moved, the only sign aside from that she'd even heard them was a loft of her brows.

"Going for a stroll so late at night, darling?" the Brit asked.

She smiled, almost sadly. "You should know, Changling. I do what I must."

The 'Changling' shifted in place, nodding and exhaling at the same time. "I suppose you do," he muttered. "Does he know?" he asked, referring to Eli.

Claudia only shook her head, an inaudible 'No' falling from her mouth.

"You know, I don't think  he'd be very happy if he did," he warned her. For a moment, it sounded like a threat, but he didn't make any move to follow it up with another comment, merely watching the Reaper that he didn't quite feel the need to get any closer to.

"He knows who I am," she said, this time her voice lower; not quite in defense of herself, but very sure.

"Oh, I'm not attacking you," he said, holding his hands up in the sign of peace.

"I didn't think you were," she said, smiling.

He watched her for a second, then nodded. "Is there nobody else?" he asked finally.

She shook her head, almost sadly. "No," she told him. "I'm afraid not. I did look," she added. "But I need to stay close, and this is all I have to work with. I tipped the scales before. This is my price."

"Except, it's someone else's price, innit darling?" he reminded her, his voice taking a tone.

She raised her eyebrows again, this time in surprise. "Does this mean you're volunteering?" she asked, genuine curiosity in her words.

He was quiet for a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "No, I don't suppose it does."

She looked beyond him, then, to a clock. "It's nearing three. He'll be awake. You should go and sit with him. He doesn't like hospitals, you know," she added, her tone informative.

He nodded, then made to leave. He paused, and when he turned back, she stood exactly where she had been - for some reason, he wasn't surprised. "You know, I don't think he knows what he's quite signed up for with you."

"Then I guess you'll have to tell him," she said, brows perking as though it seemed to be the only logical response. "But you really should... go," she said softly.

She turned her back on the Changling, then, who had a name that she hadn't yet learned, and listened to him leave the area, waiting until she heard the door swing open and shut, signifying he had moved on to the next section of the hospital. She sighed, then continued on, her footfalls all but silent as she passed through a set of doors beneath a sign that read, in Russian, CHILDREN'S WARD.

The whole point of the wards that Eli had both in and around his spacious penthouse apartment were so that he could actually operate on a day to day basis without being bothered by everything else that would somehow try to get his attention. It didn't even have to be malicious - mischievous, wandering or otherwise curious spirits could annoy him just as much as a malevolent one would, albeit on a much lesser scale, and then he'd have to waste time chasing them all off or alternately helping them go to the beyond, and that was time he could spend doing things he needed to do, like sleep.

Unfortunately for Eli, if he didn't have a ward set up specifically for something in particular, or if that something in particular happened to simply ignore those wards and come right on in anyways, they were moot and didn't do him a damn bit of good. That was probably why, despite being in his own bed, his dream (which had been very calm and mellow) suddenly ran dark, and then spat him out on a street corner that looked familiar-yet-not while he watched someone he thought he knew rush back and forth in the house just a few feet away. 

He realized it wasn't a lucid dream when, pushing with all of his might, he began walking forward instead of back the way he thought he'd come. He continued to try and escape whatever he'd been pulled into, mainly because he was conscious enough to know he shouldn't be there, but when he got to the front door of the home and it opened by something that was neither his own command nor the resident within, he realized that he was just going to have to let whatever it was go on until he could find a weak spot and get the hell out.

He crossed the foyer, dimly aware that he left wet boot prints across the wood floor behind him, the squish sound of his shoes drown out by the television just a few feet beyond. He came around the corner, juxtaposed between a living room strewn with toys belonging to a child of perhaps six or seven judging from what they were, and a wooden staircase, above which hung several family photos. They were blurry at first, but as he drew nearer to them, he realized that he recognized for certain at least one of the people. Claudia. The second was a photo of a man in his twenties that Eli didn't recognize, while the third was of a child (they seemed to be recent, perhaps Christmas photos?), and the fourth was the three of them grouped together, smiling.

"Ohhhh, holy fucking fuck," he hissed.

He whipped around as thundering against the stairs nearly knocked him over, and realized that a certain brunette he'd become incredibly fond of was rushing past him, phone pressed to her ear as she searched frantically for something. He listened to the conversation, surprised (and confused) that he could hear both sides of it.

"Claudia, we need you in the emergency room. It's bad, it's really bad," a voice at the other end gulped. He could tell whoever it was had been crying.

"It's okay Stephanie, I'm on my way. I just need to find my keys. Adam still hasn't called me back, either. I'm getting really worried. I told him to stay at mom's house with Noelle, but I think he might have tried to drive in the storm anyways. I'm going to try and call up there again, his phone is sending me straight to voicemail," she said, her voice rushed. She darted into the kitchen, made a noise of frustration, and then ran into the living room, turning couch cushions upside down as she swore to herself.

Eli realized he could see her keys from his vantage point, and as he began to descend the stairs, he saw that she noticed them herself. He paused, not sure what to do, or why, furthermore, he was seeing some sort of snippet of Claudia's past.

"Got 'em!" she yelled. "Okay, Steph, I'm on my way. I'm leaving right now. I'll just try calling them on the way," she said, running for the door.

"Okay," Stephanie said back.

"Steph, just stay calm. I'm on my way, okay hon? Just work on calling everyone else you can. We'll manage, it's what we do," she said, her voice gentle, but firm. It actually made Eli smile a little, if only because he'd heard her speak in that tone before. As Claudia ran out the door and locked it behind her, Eli began to follow, only for everything to go black and weird again.

When he came to, he was sitting in the passenger seat of a car that was moving through a horrible storm, and with a jolt as the car braked hard, he realized that he was sitting next to Claudia - again. She was on her phone, muttering 'Come on, come on' to herself. As the light turned green, she pressed down on the gas, trying to multi-task as she drove to the hospital. Eli actually had some orientation about himself now - sort, of anyways - it was raining pretty heavily but he could make out a street sign every once in a while.

"Hello? Hello? Adam, can you hear me?" she cried, finally seeming to get someone on the other end. She leaned forward as she rolled up to a stop sign, looked around, then accelerated, zipping through the intersection and coming very close to getting hit by a truck who had intended to run the stop and didn't anticipate the other car doing it, too.

"Jesus Christ, Claudia!" he yelled in spite of himself. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

Then, a cold feeling ran over him.

"Oh, no," he said. "No, no, no." He began pushing out with his power again, stomping his feet against the floor as he physically fought to try and get himself out of the dream.

You'll leave, just like the rest, and I'll be in that car again and...  He could hear her words to him, the first time he'd ever spoken to her, and everything just clicked. He was about to witness Claudia dying.

Her phone ringing startled him, breaking his concentration at trying to pull himself out of her dream, and he looked over at her, eyes wide as sweat formed at his brow. "Claudia, you have to listen to me. You have to wake up, Claudia," he commanded her firmly.

"Hello? Adam? Is that you? Are you and Noelle okay?" she demanded, completely oblivious to the man next to her who, at this point, was screaming at the top of his lungs for her to WAKE UP.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, this is Officer Holland with the New York Police Department. Listen ma'am, I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but it appears your husband was involved in the accident tonight on the bridge." The officer fell silent for a moment, and Eli just stared, trembling, realizing that he was totally trapped, and unfortunately, that he also knew what was about to happen.

"Are they alive?" she yelled into the phone. She glanced up at a light as it turned yellow, punched down on the gas, and gripped the steering wheel tightly, knuckles turning white. "Just tell me what hospital they're going to! I'm a nurse, I work at Saint Vincent's! It's where I'm going now, I can meet the ambulance there!" she pleaded.

"...ma'am, I'm sorry to tell you this, but they're both -"

Eli felt a massive impact hit the side of the car on Claudia's side. It felt like a bomb went off - and Eli would know, because he'd been somewhere where shit had been bombed before. He heard her screaming, heard himself screaming, and then that weird, sick feeling washed over him again before he had time to do anything and -

He was standing outside of a graveyard with Claudia.  Across the row, a funeral carried on, but the sounds of the service seemed incredibly distant. The rain had stopped, and the sky was grey, but mostly due to the snow that had already begun to blanket the ground. She wasn't wearing a jacket, and people seemed to pass her by with no notice. She just stood there in front of three headstones, not doing or saying anything for a long time. Eli almost didn't say anything, either, except that, when he tried to move, he realized he could - only slightly, but it seemed like he was gaining control of the dream again.

"Claudia?" he said hesitantly, reaching out to touch her shoulder.

She whipped her head up, looking at him with wide, watery green eyes. Her pretty, pallid face was twisted into a look of total shock, then of anger. "You shouldn't be here!" she yelled, the words coming out a mixture of fury and surprise.

Eli sat bolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat. He threw the blankets off of him and planet two feet firmly on the ground, if only because it helped him ground himself in reality. As quickly as he could muster, he pushed around with his power, ensuring that he was one-hundred percent awake. He got out of bed more fully, stumbling slightly as he realized that he was shaking, and made his way to the kitchen for water, or vodka. Whichever he'd find first. He bumped around in the dark until he got to the living room, where enough light cast from the very dimmed lamps to tell him that someone was there.

On the couch, he saw Claudia outstretched, and actually passed out would have been a better word for it, given the way her body was positioned, head on a pillow and knees tucked all the way up like she was in the fetal position. On the coffee table in front of her was a mug that, on closer inspection, had remnants of tea leaves in it. He picked it up and brought it into the kitchen so he could get a better look at it, and swore to himself angrily. He kept several mixes of tea that were more or less strong enough to knock him out completely, designed by a particular individual who had access to such ingredients. They were used by him under the most dire of circumstances, generally when he was somewhere where wards simply couldn't be put up but he needed sleep. They were designed to knock him out without allowing interference from anything else.

He heard a noise from the living room, and set the mug down before returning. He saw Claudia sitting up on the couch, a very... hard to read expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" he asked, not sure what else to say, and not sure if she even knew what she'd done. It was all rather clear by the look on her face, however, when she only shook her head now, and then just sort of... folded over, resting her elbows at her knees and covering her face with her hands.

"Okay, okay," he said softly, going to the couch and offering her a hand. "Come on, you're sleeping in my room. No more tea, okay? Come on, you're okay, you're okay," he soothed, hand idly rubbing at her back as he realized that he was wide the fuck awake now and had utterly no chance of going back to sleep.

He got her to lay down and tucked her in, and somehow through all of it she still managed to turn this way or that so he couldn't see her face, but Eli wasn't an idiot, and he was far more observant than most gave him credit for. He'd been around Heather enough to know what crying sounded like, and he'd been around Claudia enough to know that she was slightly more dignified with the way she emoted, when she actually did emote. She'd never let him see her cry, but that didn't change the fact that it was happening, and Eli felt that anger of being thrown about in her strange cyclical dream give way to a sense of awfulness that he'd have done almost anything to get rid of, and he swore to himself that it absolutely wasn't going to happen again.

Claudia had been summoned, though she didn't know by who, and that bothered her. As she walked through the darkness that engulfed the Lounge, she felt a chill creep up her spine. It was a sensation she was unfamiliar with, and despite the heat that radiated through the building, she wriggled her fingers together to fight off the cold. She pushed through the door to the back, unprepared for the feeling of utter evil that washed over her when her feet crossed the entry point into the room.

"Hello, princess," an unfamiliar voice called to her smoothly.

She turned, intending fully to dart back out into the hall, because she was pretty sure she was walking into a trap, but the door slammed shut in her face. She pounded on it uselessly, yelling for someone to let her out.

"Oh, nobody's gonna help you in here," the voice said. She turned quickly as footsteps indicated someone was right behind her, and when she did, she felt herself lifted up into the air - by her neck.

"Recognize me now, sweetpea?" Lucifer teased. He may have been in someone else's body, but that didn't mean she didn't know who he was. She wheezed, clamping down with both of her hands onto the one that had her so firmly lifted, trying to pry it from around her throat. She wasn't used to being assaulted, and moreover, she wasn't used to having to breathe, so this was all quite a shock to her.

"I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen, and if you do any of that tricky Reaper business, I'll make sure that I kick you so far out to the furthest corners of this universe that it'll take years for you to find your way back," he assured her. When he was certain that she understood, he released her, and her feet that had skittered against the floor to try and support herself shot out from underneath her, causing her to fall over onto her backside with a loud noise.

Lucifer laughed at her, stepping back to let her stand up, and folded his arms at his sides. He regarded her with a pleasant sort of smile, one that was totally malevolent in origin. "Been a long time, hasn't it, Claudia?" he teased. The way he said her name was scary; she'd tangled with him before, but it was always indirectly, and she always had Death at her back for the fight. This time, she reached out and found that she was totally alone.

"Oh, are you just now figuring it out?" he asked. "That's right, big daddy Death ain't comin' to help you out of this one. No, it's just you and me, now. You see, I need you - or, rather, your power - to help me out with a little... situation, you could say."

She was up again, brushing herself off, but kept a safe distance from him, planting her back against the door. "What do you need?" she asked simply, aware that he wasn't lying about her being ass out. She'd reached out and found that she was getting no response. Death, it seemed, was sitting this one out.

"Your power," he repeated, rolling his eyes at the fact that she obviously hadn't been listening. "Keep up, sweetheart." When he called her that, she cringed, and he smirked a little. "Seems like I'm not the only person so fond of using that name, now, am I? No, looks like that little psychic pet of yours likes to call you that, too. Speaking of, I'm gonna need him, also. I know he likes to play it neutral, but so do you, and you're here..." he let the words fall, open-ended, and held his hands out in a little shrug.

"I'll do whatever you want," she said firmly. "But you need to leave Eli out of this. He's a good man, Lucifer. He doesn't need any part in whatever scheme you're planning."

"Oh, Claudia," he laughed. He circled back to a table with food on it, plucking a red apple from a bowl of fruit, and held it up. "Apple? No? Your loss," he said, before taking a bite out of it. "Mm, I forgot how much I missed the little human perks of this gig. I gotta find a way to get up here more often. Now, where was I? Oh, right - " he said, chewing thoughtfully. He swallowed, then pointed at her with the hand that held the apple. "I'm gonna get your power whether you want me to or not, so I don't actually need your permission. It'll hurt a whole hell of a lot less, but I was kind of hoping you'd put up just a little more of a fight. Though now I see you're a little attached to that human pet of yours, and that will make things more interesting."

"I'm serious, Lucifer," she snapped. "Leave Eli alone. He can't do anything that I can't, and I can find someone else who can, if need be."

He snorted, then tossed the half-eaten apple over his shoulder into the fireplace. "A thoughtful gesture, but no, you can't do precisely what he can. If you could, then I wouldn't have brought it up, would I? It seems that he sort of started this all, whether he meant to or not. Gave my buddy out there spawning the little squid-beast monsters the means to do it, and I sort of struck a deal up with the people who oppose that kind of thing, so I'm obligated to follow through. You can either convince him yourself, or I can, but either way, I need him front and center, pronto."

She shook her head. "Even if I asked him, he wouldn't. He stays as far away from this shit as possible," she protested. "There's not much you could do to make him play for either team, regardless of the stakes."

"You seem pretty confident about that, sweetheart," he said slowly. It was almost like he wanted her to disagree.

"I am," she said. She felt around behind her for the latch on the door, then pushed on it. Nothing happened, and she grit her teeth. "What else do you need me to do? Claim a few souls for you? Done. Just let me out of here."

"Don't tell me you've got somewhere better to be then with me," he shot back, grinning. "Besides, I think you're not being totally honest about your little friend. I think you could convince him. I just don't think you want to." He started coming towards her, then, his steps slow and deliberate.

"Lucifer, please, don't -"

And that was the last thing she said before he snapped his fingers. The spot she'd been standing, where he knew she'd be by the door, had symbols etched into the woodwork above it. She'd looked at the floor because she wasn't stupid, but she'd never think to check the ceiling. Reapers, in general, were a little smarter then that, but then again, this one actually had actually been dumb enough to think she could keep a powerful pet like Eli somehow protected. Lucifer saw that her power was stripped with the snap of his fingers, as per the agreement he'd made with Death before he'd even summoned her. The symbols, however - those gave him the bargaining tools he'd need for her to convince Eli to come to him.

When Claudia opened her eyes again, the first thing she felt was pain. Not the normal pain that she'd grown accustomed to from time to time of wearing herself too thin, but actual, physical pain. She felt something wet on her face, and reached up above her eye, where Lucifer had banged her into the door one last time before she'd blacked out completely. She pulled her hand down, surveying what the wetness was, and her eyes grew wide at the shock of discovering blood there. She sat up more fully, groaning, realizing that the pain she felt was in her head. Not from just the cut, but all over, radiating. What had that asshole done to her?

She stood up, dizzy in the empty room, and grabbed onto a chair for support. She felt like she might throw up, which was new. Claudia hadn't felt that since the last time she'd been human, and that had been years ago. She closed her eyes, trying to step back into the veil and move between worlds, like she always did for quick transport, then opened them when she realized nothing was happening except the concentration intensified her headache.

She dropped down into the chair, pulled out her phone, and did exactly what Lucifer had planned on her doing. "Eli?" she breathed, trying to steady her breathing. "Are you home? Good. I'll be there in a little. No, I have to take a cab. No..." she trailed off. "Yes, something is wrong. No, I'll.. I'll show you when I get there. It merits you being able to see it before I can even begin to explain anything.

She went through the back exit of the Lounge, which was strangely unlocked, and walked around the corner, still unable to stop her head from throbbing. She hailed a cab and made the quick ride to Eli's apartment, then nearly fell over in the elevator as she waited for it to get to the upper floors. Once she got out, she went to his door, and forgetting herself, walked right into it, trying to go through it. At the loud thump that heralded her arrival, the door opened, revealing a very confused Eli standing on the other side. He must've just gotten home, too - he still had his body armor on from wherever he'd just been, as well as a gun in its holster at his side.

"Claudia? Did you just run into my door?" he asked. He opened it more for her to come in, still making observations as she walked by him. "Are you okay? Fuck, are you bleeding?" he demanded.

She went right into bathroom, dropped down to her knees, and began to vomit into his toilet.

"Whoa, okay!" he said, turning on a heel and quickly moving in the opposite direction. He wasn't a sympathetic puker, but that didn't mean he wanted to stand there and hover over her, either. When he heard the toilet flush and the sink running, he assumed she was done, and pulled a first aid kit from his duffel that was on the floor by the kitchen. "In here," he called. "Let me look at that cut."

She came into the kitchen and sat down in a chair, hands shaking as she tried to clear her hair back out of the cut before it matted together with the drying blood. "We have a problem," she told him, her voice thin from the fatigue that a violent puking session always brought.

"I can see that," he muttered, brows raised as he began dabbing at her forehead. When she jerked back in shock from how much it stung, he nearly jumped himself at the sudden movement. "Hey, you need to calm down, sweetheart," he said, reaching out to take her shaking hand. "This is gonna sting. I'd have warned you if I thought it, you know, applied.. which it apparently does."

"Yeah, Eli, I'm going to need you to think of a new term of endearment for me. Someone thoroughly ruined 'sweetheart' today," she said, cringing a little.

"I'm guessing that's all part of the problem you're going to tell me about," he said blandly. He sighed. "I'm not going to like any of this, am I?"

"No," she agreed, closing her eyes and trying to sit still as he pressed butterfly stitches across the gash on her forehead.

"Man, something got you good," he mused. "Okay, all done. Before you start, let me go get a drink. I feel like I'm going to need it," he said, his voice taking that sarcastic tone.

"Get me one, too," she told him, putting her head on her arms. "Now that I'm mortal, I may as well take the benefits."

Behind her, the sound of a glass breaking told her all she needed to know about how Eli reacted to that.

Claudia had adapted to mortality surprisingly well, all things considered. Unfortunately, Lucifer's plan to drag Eli into the fray hadn't worked out like he'd wanted. Once she'd lost her abilities and become human, she'd fallen off of Lucifer's radar. He must have assumed that she had a different sort of relationship with Eli then she actually had; when she told him Lucifer's full plan, and then told him that she had a very good feeling he meant to kill them all, Eli didn't need to be told twice to stay out of it. If Claudia wanted to stay human, then Eli would let her stay human. It wasn't like they didn't know what her fate had in store for her, right?
 
Days turned into weeks, and Claudia had mostly forgotten to be afraid. She had sort of moved in with Eli; it wasn't like he didn't have the space, and Claudia was still useful to have around, aside from the fact that he genuinely liked her company. But something else had happened - she'd forgotten that she wasn't supposed to have a chance. It had happened slowly, as gradually as Eli's love for Heather, until one day before he'd had to leave for a job, she'd grabbed him at the door and kissed him - and he'd kissed her back. Things had taken a definite up-swing after that, and though Eli still kept his attentive eyes open for any signs of change, it seemed as though whatever Lucifer had planned, he'd taken another route. Claudia only could say that he'd have to go to him freely, and since Eli wouldn't do that under any circumstances he could foresee, they had nothing to worry about.

For the New Year's party, some of the guilds threw a masquerade ball. Claudia had been the one to object, oddly enough, but Eli said that the prospect of seeing her in some ridiculous ballgown was too good an opportunity to pass up, and that she didn't have a choice. That, and it was sort of expected that he would go and at least make a quick appearance; Claudia was smart, and able to act coy enough to block any questions about their personal lives, so he wasn't worried that she'd do anything except dazzle the people he occasionally worked with. He did feel a little vindicated, though, that finally he sort of 'measured up' to Harvey on some plane. If he told Claudia that, she'd probably have gotten angry, but that was Eli's ego and his alone.

She'd chose to wear black, characteristically, as had he, and together they arrived at precisely ten-thirty. They intended to stay until midnight, then depart: it was long enough to be seen, to be social and to be friendly, but not to get to the point of gross intoxication and make fools of themselves - or get into fights with anyone. Things between Eli and Harvey would always be tense, but right now they had some sort of mutual understanding. Too much alcohol could damage that. So they arrived, had a little to drink, socialized, danced, and surprisingly, had a good time.

Just as the clock struck eleven-thirty, Claudia managed to lose track of Eli. She wasn't worried, thinking he'd just gotten caught up with a co-worker, and was making her way across the dance floor of the massive hall to get some air when someone grabbed her by the arm, pulling her into the somewhat organized dance that she was weaving through. She tried to pull back, but the grip tightened, and when she looked up, the masked man only smiled at her.

"Evenin', princess," he sang, his voice cold as he greeted her. "Did you think you could hide out forever?"

"Oh, shit," she hissed.

"Don't make a scene, or I'll kill everyone here," he promised her. "Oh shit is right, by the way. Do you know how much of a pain in the ass you've been for me? His apartment has wards, doesn't it? Is that why you were nowhere to be found? Thought you were pretty clever, didn't you?" Lucifer asked, yanking her violently as they danced. From someone watching on, it didn't look like anything out of the ordinary, and Claudia was turning too much with the dance for anyone to see how terrified she looked.

"I told you that I would keep him out of it," she said. "I gave you my power. I did my part! You turned me into a human, so I don't know what more you expect me to do for you. I can't," she added, grunting as he twisted her wrist in an uncomfortable manner.

"Let's get something straight, sweetheart. You don't tell me anything. I say jump, you say how high. You're in my pocket now until this is finished, and when I tell you to bring me your little psychic playmate, you bring him," he snarled, voice right in her ear as he pressed against her back. He spun her around again as they moved with the row they were in, pulling her close to his chest in what was supposed to be a romantic gesture, but ended up causing him to nearly choke the life out of her. When he finally let her go, he was dragging her by her waist and arm, her feet sliding across the floor as she struggled to regain her breath.

"You had your chance, Claudia," he said sadly, smiling as she tried to pull away and failed due to the lack of oxygen in her blood. The room must have looked like a giant blur to her. "And now, we're going to do it my way. Lucky for you, you get to see just how much your little pet cares about you, now. I never understood why you always had so much interest in humans. As far as I'm concerned, they're just a little too... fragile," he said, finding the word that suited him. He made a quick gesture that was hidden by the fabric of her dress and his own jacket, then stepped back, revealing a blood-covered dagger. "Tick tock, princess. You've got until midnight before you turn into a pumpkin again and your whole little kingdom just crashes down around your pretty little head. You know where to find me."

Claudia clamped her hand down over the point in her side where Lucifer had knifed her, watching him with unfocused eyes as he vanished through the crowd. She wanted to go after him, but she looked down, blinking rapidly, and realized that blood was pouring from the hole he'd made. Thank god her dress was black, at least. She fought through the crowd, trying to move as quickly as she could while bringing as little attention to herself as possible. It was eleven thirty-nine, now, and he'd said by midnight. That must have been how long she had before she totally bled out. Eli, Eli, where was Eli? She scanned the edge of the room frantically, and finally spotted him coming down the stairs. Thank fuck, he was alone.

She got about halfway there before the pain began to radiate to the point where it was hard to walk without stumbling; luckily, by then, he'd seen her, and he'd seen that she looked distressed, so he was making his way to her at the same time. He reached her, putting a hand on her shoulder and asking her what was wrong, only to choke off the word 'Fuck' as she pulled a shaking hand from her side and showed him the blood.

"What the fuck happened?" Eli demanded, trying to take her by the arm.

"Lucifer" she gulped, leaning against a marble statue for support. She couldn't walk anymore. Everything was blurry; the room was spinning. She just tried to focus on him, on the sound of his voice. God damnit, it could have been any other night but this one. "He said you have to come to the Lounge. We have until Midnight, then I'm done. I've already lost a lot of blood; the whole side of my dress is soaked. I'm surprised I didn't leave a weird streak on the floor," she breathed, forcing a tight smile. "But listen, you can't go. I'm already dead, I mean, I was, so I don't matter. You do. You cannot go," she repeated, trying to speak loudly and failing.

"Bullshit," he said. "If that's where he said to go to get this fixed, then that's where I'm going. Come on," he said, trying to pick her up. He wasn't surprised when she stepped away from him, and had anticipated it, changing his angle and scooping her up anyways. "Don't try to stop me," he warned her. "I'm very angry and I'm very scared right now, and I'm really not in the mood."

"It's.. a fucking trap.." she protested, trying to catch her breath while still trying to keep pressure on the wound. "You're stupid, Eli. He may not even undo this. He's a liar. That's why they call him the father of lies." She had to stop talking as they hit the main lobby, where the chill in the air mixed with the amount of blood she'd lost froze her out.

  Eli didn't even bother waiting for the valet; he walked right to the first car he saw out front with a valet in it, yanked him out, put Claudia in, then climbed in himself. "I'll take care of it later," he snapped out the window, before directing the car with a quickness into the traffic beyond. As he drove, he looked over at her. "Claudia, you'd better hang on," he warned her. "Or I swear to god, I will pull you back into that body as many times as it takes until we get there. It will hurt, and I will make it hurt, just to keep you conscious. Do you hear me?" he threatened.

She just sort of shook her head, looking down at the huge mess she'd made. She wasn't talking anymore, which greatly bothered Eli; he took a turn at a much higher speed than was suggested, turning the wheel aggressively as he narrowly avoided collision. They weren't that far from the lounge, and he alternated between swearing and yelling at Claudia to talk to him; finally, he reached out and, with the cigarette lighter, burned her arm, which caused her to shriek in pain, but also caused her to wake up.

"Fuck!" she screamed. "Did you fucking burn me?!"

"I told you I would make it hurt!" he yelled back. He reached out, pressing his own hand down on top of hers, trying to make her keep pressure on her abdomen since she'd started to nod off before and stopped. "Keep your hands here," he commanded. "We're almost there. I swear to God, Claudia, I don't care if this guy is Lucifer, I'm going to kick his fucking ass," he snarled.

She managed a laugh, then cried out in pain because of it, and put one of her hands on top of his despite the fact that pressure, at this point, was useless. "I think this is the end of the line for me," she warned him. As soon as she'd said it, he'd yanked up the e-brake and swung the car sideways in front of the Lounge.

"I think not, because we're here," he replied, his voice strangely calm. He jumped out, then ran around and yanked her out, carrying her through the front doors and straight back to where he felt that pulsing, dark power resonating. Anyone who came near him would instantly regret it, he made damn sure of that, and by the time he kicked open the back door to where Lucifer waited, he had a nice gathering of spirits just waiting to be cut loose.

"It's eleven fifty-nine," Lucifer mused. "You cut it really close, loverboy."

"The last guy who called me that didn't end up doing so well," Eli said, his voice calm. "You fix her, and I'll play nice this time around."

Lucifer stood, brushing an apple on the sleeve of his shirt absently. He looked up at Eli, then at Claudia, and laughed a little to himself. "Is that so?" he asked, walking towards them with a slow, deliberate sort of stroll.

Eli set his jaw. "Just fix her. Then we'll deal."

"No, loverboy, that's not how it works," Lucifer said, his smile fading away. "You see, I make the rules. And you don't get your reward before I get my deal. So I'm not fixing shit until I get your word that you'll do what I want, when I want, and for as long as I want. How's that for playing nice?"

Eli glanced down at Claudia, who was to the point of fading, and knew that she'd have just told him no again. But it really wasn't her choice, was it? It was his. He looked back up at Lucifer. "Done," he said, his voice dark.

Claudia couldn't remember anything that had transpired after Eli had pulled her out of the car. She knew that he was speaking softly to her, telling her to hang on, but Claudia had been trying to protest, for all of the good it had done. She didn't want Eli to get involved, and it broke her heart to know that he'd gone to the place where she'd been trying to keep him from because he'd been trying to save her. If she'd have convinced him to stay home instead of going to the Masquerade Ball, if she'd have just found a reason to keep him at the apartment... if, if if.

She woke up, disoriented and dazed, unsure of where she was or what was happening. Her body felt hot, unnaturally so, and she realized that she was under a pile of blankets. She pushed them off of her, breathing and realizing that while it hurt to do so, she was, in fact, breathing, which meant that she was alive - not restored to her former state of glory, but still human. Still, she wasn't dead, and as glad for that as she could be, she felt sadness creeping in through the fuzzy numbness of sleep (and most likely painkillers), because it also meant that Eli had taken the deal Lucifer had laid out for him. She didn't know what had happened, exactly, which caused much in the way of grief, because Lucifer was tricky with his wording and she hadn't been able to intervene. What had Eli done, exactly?

She sat up, crying out a little as she did so at the sudden, sharp sensation in her side. She was wearing a shirt that wasn't hers, and that was probably a good thing. It seemed she'd started bleeding again when she'd tried to move, and despite being mostly still in her drug-induced sleep, the abrupt jerk of her body had caused a stitch or two to pop. She pulled the edges of the soft, dark grey cotton shirt boasting something funny in white text that she couldn't quite make out (I Do All My Own Stunts, with a stick figure jumping over the text), and surveyed her abdomen. The shirt had been protected from getting bled on by the gauze bandage and some generously applied medical tape (it looked like Eli, who she assumed had done it, had anticipated her moving around a lot more than she did), but she prodded it with her finger and could see it darkening as the blood began soaking into the bandage.

She looked over to the bedside table, where an orange translucent bottle with no label sat. She reached for it as slowly as she could after sitting up more, using the pillows to prop herself up better. With a turn, she looked inside, and instantly recognized the little green pills as a decently strong form of percocet. There were a lot of them, which meant that she hadn't had many, and she could only imagine Eli waking her up to take them before leaving her to rest again. He must have, but she couldn't remember any of it. Still, it explained why she didn't feel worse; it also explained the dryness in her throat as she tried to swallow. She took one, then finished the glass of water that she found next to the bottle. She didn't know where Eli was, or even if he was there, but she certainly recognized his bedroom, so at least there was that.

As she pushed out of bed and stood, another realization hit her. She wasn't wearing any pants. In the corner of the room, hung in a clear plastic garment bag from Macy's, was the mostly ruined ball gown that Eli must have stripped off of her (and there wasn't much stripping to be done, since the corset top connected to the massive, flared skirt that was yards of tulle and chiffon). Lucifer may have brought her back to life, but he certainly didn't heal her otherwise, and it all sort of settled in more firmly now. Eli had obviously taken her back to his apartment and sewn her up himself, which meant they hadn't lingered long at the Lounge at all. It worried her more, because it meant that whatever deal Lucifer had spat out, Eli hadn't had time to haggle. She would have felt more guilt if the painkillers weren't so quick to take action; she felt a warmth and a euphoria wash over her, as well as the need to itch her nose.

She wanted to search for more clothing, but realized that the drawer she had in his dresser was at the very bottom, and she just didn't have it in her to crouch down, then stand back up, then re-dress herself on top of it all, and she wasn't going to ask him to do it, assuming he was even home. She still hadn't figured that part out, yet. She tried to shake the t-shirt out a little, realizing for the first time perhaps just how much bigger then her Eli truly was - Claudia herself was only 5'5, and she was rather slight. She wasn't that much taller than Heather, actually, though it was the only thing the girls had in common (opposites in every other way, including colouring). She frowned, not really wanting to think about Heather at the moment, and moved so that she could see herself in the long mirror that hung from the back of the bathroom door across the room. She was pale, more than usual, but other then that, she seemed okay. The shirt, after some tugging, came to mid-thigh length, and she supposed it would have to do. At least she wore underwear that were more like incredibly short shorts - and it wasn't like Eli had never seen those before, though Claudia was also feeling very damaged and vulnerable at the moment, so it made a difference to her.

With a deep breath (that she regretted, since it made that stinging pain in her abdomen come back - she'd have to remember that), she opened the bedroom door. She was surprised to find it had been closed all the way; usually Eli didn't close the doors around his penthouse all the way, especially not if Claudia was there (except for the obvious bathrooms). She made her way down the short hall into the living room, where she could see and hear that the television was on, but didn't see anyone on the couch. She wanted to call out, but when she tried to, her voice came out sort of scratchy, and so she refrained. She was about to just call his phone instead of conducting a full search when a clank in the kitchen gave his position away.

He was fully dressed, and actually, it looked like he was about to leave. She looked back to the couch as she approached, taking note of his usual travel bags there, with a plane ticket resting on top of the black duffel. "Hey," she called out finally.

He turned, shutting the fridge with a knee and setting down a head of lettuce and some other assorted items. "Hey," he greeted. He paused for a second, then walked out from behind the counter. "Hnn," he said cryptically, a finger crooked over his lips as he eyed her.

Claudia cleared her throat, crossing one ankle over the other and clasped her hands together behind her back, instantly taking a shy position as her head tipped down. She glanced up, reaching out to push some of her dark, fine hair behind her ear. "What?" she asked, after he didn't say anything else. She felt her cheeks growing hot, and realized that she was blushing.

"I've never had a beautiful woman standing in my kitchen in one of my t-shirts before. I'm just trying to enjoy the moment," he said, a teasing tone to his voice.

She opened her mouth to respond, and just exhaled, the sound somewhere between a laugh of disbelief and a sigh.

"Sorry, it had to be said," he pointed out, though he didn't sound very remorseful. He smiled, holding a hand out, and motioned for her to come closer. "Come here, are you hungry? I got called in about an hour ago, so I need to go, but I have a few minutes to spare for you. I can make you a sandwich, or if you'd prefer, there's soup, too. You've been out for a few days, so I don't think you want to eat a lot right now, but we can start with some small, easy stuff. How do you feel? How's your wound?" he asked, not missing a beat. He was already making himself a sandwich, pausing to stick the edge of his thumb into his mouth to remove some of the mustard he'd gotten under his nail.

She came in, putting both hands down on the counter before gently hoisting herself up into a stool. "Sure, just whatever you're making. No mustard, though," she added quickly as he sucked on his thumb. He just eyed her, then shrugged, as if to say 'your loss'. "I feel okay, I guess. I think I popped a few stitches, though..."

"Ugh, really? Okay, I'll look at them before I leave, see if I can't fix them for you. I'm only going to be gone a few days, tops, so I expect you'll just stay here and take it easy while I'm gone. You know how to redress the bandages and stuff, so I'm confident you won't somehow kill yourself while I'm away, but if anything happens, I have a sat phone with me, so it won't be like you can't get a hold of me. Pickle?"

She nodded, then held her hands up to stop the plate as he slid her sandwich the three feet it took to get to her. "Yeah, sorry," she apologized weakly. "I woke up and was kind of confused. I'm sorry if I'm slow, I'm a little doped up. I think my pill already kicked in, so I'm actually kind of glad I caught you in the kitchen before you left," she said. She smiled at him as he set a bottle of water down in front of her, twisting the cap until it was loose, then screwing it back down once so she didn't knock it over and spill it everywhere.

"Well, I was planning to come in and wake you up before I went, at least. I was a little worried at first, but I've been checking on you every few hours or so, and you seemed to have been doing better every time. Sorry about your dress, by the way. You did look beautiful. I had a lot of missed texts asking where we went, but I couldn't really tell anyone. A lot of compliments for you, though," he said, giving her a smile and a wink.

"Good... I made you look good," she said, laughing a little. "Oh man, this is amazing. Eli, why do we always order food when you can do things like this?" she asked, taking a huge bite of the sandwich.

"Yeah, you like it? I just sort of assumed you didn't want to wait around for food. I mean, I can go either way, but usually I'm too tired to bother. Plus, I can't make greasy Chinese food like the place down the street can," he reminded her. He finished his own food quickly, then brushed his hands off on his pants and took a swig of his water. "Okay, I need to go load up my car really quickly. You finish that, and then I'll redo your stitches before I take off. Okay?" When she nodded, he smiled again, dropped a kiss on her cheek, and then vanished out the door.

True to his word, as soon as he came back up, he helped her off of the stool and into the bedroom, where he told her to lay down and roll up the shirt, and let 'the doctor' work his magic. At this, Claudia only rolled her eyes, but she obliged, taking the hem of the shirt and literally rolling it up until it was neatly folded just below her breasts. To his credit, Eli didn't try to sneak a peak, but again, he'd seen her topless before - they'd been romantically involved, though not too seriously, but he'd actually seen her topless because she'd made him help her with her ballgown. Then it had been unavoidable, because the corset had been ridiculous to adjust - until he realized there was a goddamned zipper back there.

"Okay, how does this feel?" he asked, removing the bandage gently and reworking her stitches.

"Your hands are cold, but it doesn't hu-URT!" she exclaimed, jerking as he hit a tender spot with the needle.

"Sorry! Sorry, okay, that spot's obviously still a little tender. Sorry, Claudia," he said again, putting a hand down on her stomach to steady her. "Okay, I'll try to be more careful, but you can't jump around. You're just going to make this worse. Can you sit still?" he asked, looking up at her.

She nodded, closing her eyes and biting her lip as he finished what he was doing. He sprayed it with some antibacterial stuff, which fucking stung, and she made a mewing noise of pain that, while he felt bad about, knew would happen. It needed to be done, though. He applied a new bandage, this one a little lighter so that it would allow more breathing, and then gave her a gentle pat on her stomach. "Okay, honey, you're done." He held out his arm for her to use to pull herself up, reaching behind her so she didn't strain herself too much.

"Thanks," she said softly. Then she raised an eyebrow. "Honey?" she asked curiously.

He grinned. "You said not to call you 'sweetheart' anymore. Do you not like honey? I figured it was safe. I'm sure I can find something else, though," he added.

"No, it's fine. I'm surprised you remembered," she said, her voice clearly reflecting that.

"Of course I remembered. I remember everything about that night, unfortunately, including how I kind of sold my soul to the devil. But, I'm about to leave, and I don't want that to be the last thing we talk about, because I know you'll just sit here and marinate on it. Come on, up," he said, helping her to stand. He looked down at her again as she straightened the shirt, raising his own eyebrows. When she caught him looking, he saw her cheeks redden again, and laughed. "Sorry. Consider it one for the road."

"You're horrible," she muttered in feigned disbelief.

"I am," he agreed. "And now, I'm afraid, my dear, I really do need to go. I'm going to be cutting it close as it is, but I did want to make sure you were settled in before I left." He walked out of the bedroom, his arm at her lower back as she walked with him, and stopped in the living room. "Okay, leftovers are in the fridge. All the numbers are on the fridge - takeout, emergency, Heather and Harvey's number just in case. He owes me some favours, and he knows you're here and that you got hurt, just not why or how, so he's aware that you may get uncomfortable here on your own, and for some reason, even though you almost took Heather's head off, she actually likes you, so if you decide you need the company, she will come and get you."

He paused. "A few of the guild contacts that I do trust are on there, also. If anything happens while I'm gone - and I mean anything - call one of them. Stavros is a trainer for Crimson. He's an Arun Witch, and he's beastly, so if you call him, he will wreck anything that threatens you. Samuel Croft is on there, too - he's not in a US guild, but he's part of the team that came to pull me out of that igloo prison a few months ago. He'll take a bit longer to get here in person, so if time is something you don't have, call Stavros first - but if you get into serious trouble, I trust that man with my life, and I'll trust him with yours, too."

"Should I expect any trouble?" she asked, nervous.

"No," he said firmly. "I've strengthened the wards in your downtime. They now include demons, including our little buddy Lucifer. Just don't leave the apartment, and if you do, make sure you've got someone with you. Shannon's number is up there, too - you've met her before, you remember her?" When she nodded, he continued. "Good. She knows you've been staying with me, mostly because she asked and I told her, so if you get a little stir crazy and want some company but you don't want to deal with Heather, Shannon's good to have around. She's only human, but I wouldn't count that against her." He looked at his watch.

"Alright, that's pretty much everything. I gotta go, beautiful. Come here, give me a kiss," he said, holding his arms out. It was so strange for him to be giving someone the rundown before he left, and despite the total chaos of the situation around them, he actually kind of liked it. He didn't like that he was leaving, but he felt comfortable with her there by herself, especially given the people he chose to assist in her protection, if need be. When he kissed her, it was mean to be a quick, chaste peck on the lips - but it went a little further. It was funny - all the things he'd held back from doing with Heather and then just assumed he wouldn't have the chance for, he was doing with Claudia. Her becoming human had been... really good, actually - for the both of them, it seemed. She didn't act as though she missed it, and if they just avoided the problem at hand, he could pretend that he had a normal life with a normal girl who was there, missing him while he was gone, and happy to see him when he came home. It actually felt like, for the first time since he'd left Heather, that he was okay. Really, truly okay - and if he ignored the obvious issues - happy.

When she pulled back, after sneaking a few more quick pecks, he snaked his arm out from around her and went to the door. He turned around again before he left, just to get one last good look at her - her cheeks were red, her hair was a little messed up (thanks to him), and she was still standing there in nothing but one of his shirts. She was good at teasing him, even if she didn't know it - especially when she bit her lip the way she did. "I'll call you when I land, okay?"

"Eli..." she started.

"Claudia?" he asked. He looked at his watch again. Fuck. He'd have to call the pilot when he left and tell them to delay. At least this was on the guild's dime.

"Do you have to go? I mean, isn't there anyone else who can fill in? Just this once?" she asked. And then she looked at him with her big brown eyes, batted her lashes a few times, and raised her eyebrows; hopeful.

"Wait, you mean you want me to let someone else take the job so I can stay here with you?" he asked. He wasn't sure he was hearing her right.

"Well... yeah?" she said, sounding confused. "I mean, is that weird? Should I not want that? I don't know, it seems sort of...  Jesus, why wouldn't I want you to stay?" she asked.

He hesitated, leaning against the door. "I don't know," he said, and he sounded (and felt) very unsure of himself suddenly, which he didn't like. "I guess I've never really had that happen before," he said thoughtfully.

She walked towards him, then reached out and rested her hand on his hip; she had to tilt her head to make eye-contact since he was a good six or so inches taller than her. "Please?" It was fucking adorable, and she knew it.

  He was losing this fight. He glanced left and right, as if weighing his options, then said, "Let me make a quick call," and stepped outside of the door as he pulled out his phone. He was gone for about ten minutes, and when he came back in, he had his bags with him. Claudia had moved to the arm of the couch, but when she saw him, she lit up like a freakin' beacon.

"Seriously?" she cried. She jumped up so fast she instantly regretted it, her hand going to her side as she yelled angrily at herself for the sudden, throbbing pain.

"Well, don't hurt yourself!" he chastised, laughing as he moved to check on her. "And yes, seriously. Someone else actually had been wanting the job, so apparently when I called, they were already foaming at the mouth to switch with me. I'm good, I can stay. Which, apparently is necessary now since you can't seem to go five minutes without hurting yourself," he added sarcastically.

"Shut up!" she ordered, though it was obvious she was happy. "Can you take me into the bedroom, please?"

"Why, did you pop another stitch?" he asked seriously, already obliging her by scooping her up.

She looked at him very seriously. "No," she said.

He stared at her for a second, then seemed to catch on. "I think I can manage," he agreed. He regarded her seriously. "But first, I have to ask - do you think you can model some more of my shirts for me? I'm having trouble deciding which one I want to wear later..."

"Oh, I think I can arrange something," she teased. "But you have to be on your very best behaviour."

"I do?" he asked, his voice echoing in the hall. "Well, then the bedroom isn't the place for us, I'm afraid," he said sadly.

"No! Eli!" she protested as he pretended to stop and turn around. His laughter drowned out whatever she was trying to say, and as he entered the bedroom, he kicked a foot out behind him, shutting the door with a loud click.