What Doesn't Kill You...

Carry On

"Are you going to sleep forever?"

Damon opened his eyes to see Charlie crouched beside him in the dirt. Her face was splattered with dried blood. Why is it that everyone I know is so comfortable being covered in blood?  A smile hovered over her lips. A knowing smile. Damon's stomach clenched.

"You knew, didn't you?" Damon asked flat out. "You knew Zephyriel couldn't use me as a vessel." All that build up. All that warning him from getting too involved in the fight. And the demon couldn't even use him.

Charlie shrugged. "What you didn't know wouldn't kill you."

His own laughter surprised him. He slowly sat up and groaned. His body felt like he'd been hit by a bus. "So where is he now?"

"Still inside you." Charlie replied matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean inside me?!"

Charlie put a hand on his shoulder. "Relax. Since you're awake, he must be still trapped."

"Inside me." Damon repeated. He didn't feel any different than he had before. The last thing he remembered was forcing that door to Zephyriel's prison close. So the demon was imprisoned in his mind? Damon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You know what, I'm not going to even try to wrap my brain around that one."

"Good." A slim blood stained hand reached down and yanked him up. Violet. Her face was back lit by the raging fire behind her. The church was being consumed by the flames. Her dark eyes watched him carefully.

"Took you long enough. Thought I was going to have to find a new partner." The seriousness in her eyes belied the light tone of her voice.

Damon smiled ruefully. "Nope. You're stuck with me." The demon's words returned to him. Was Violet just his partner? He smothered the rising feelings he didn't have the energy to identify. He'd torture himself with it later. "What happened while I was out? Where's Hazard?"

Violet gave a toss of her hair. "Oh you know, the usual. Big, bad monster trying to end the world. Epic mano a mano fight with a backstabbing Betty. Arson. No big deal."

Charlie rose and dusted herself off. "Hazard split after purifying the church. She's a busy girl."

"And Isabella?" Damon asked quietly.

"Dead."

Damon released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Isabella was dead. The woman who had sent his life off the rails was finally gone. He didn't feel the way he thought he would now that she was finally dead. He felt numb.

"Come on." Violet tucked her arm in his and pulled him forward. "The sun is rising in two hours and we've still got to get back to town."

"Can't Charlie just..." He looked around. Charlie was gone. "She just left us out here, didn't she?"

Violet nodded. "Yep."

"How are we getting back?"

Violet grimaced. "You're not going to like it." She pointed to the road. A large beat up pickup truck sat down the road just past the entrance to the church. The driver's side window screeched as it rolled down.

Damon groaned. "He's still alive?"

Alistair leaned out of the window. "I haven't got all night! I don't know about Violet, but I'm not in the mood to burst into flames when the sun rises. I just survived one minor apocalypse. I'm not about to die out here with you two."

Damon exchanged glances with Violet. "Any way we can leave him out here?"

Violet sighed. "I wish."

Together, they got in the truck Alistair managed to find in the aftermath of the chaos and headed back to town. As the horizon greyed in the east, the fires slowly died down leaving nothing but a charred shell behind. Nothing was left to indicate what had occurred a few short hours ago.

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"Took you long enough." Mercer spoke the moment Hazard stomped into The Crossroads. He spun around in his stool and leaned against the bar. He raised his eye brows. "Looks like my little fire starter saw some action. You look like...well, hell."

Hazard bared her teeth in a fierce smile. She was well aware what she looked like. Sooty face. Tattered and charred clothes. Blood and gore splattered everywhere. She'd caught sight of herself in a few darkened store front windows. "Well, I did just kill an awful lot of demons tonight."

Mercer grinned. "Did you bring it back?"

Hazard's smile died. She reached behind her to the bundle of cloth she had tied to her back. She undid the knot at her shoulder and tossed it at Mercer's feet. There was no way she was touching that abomination with her bare hands again. The Dark Grimoire was old, evil, and...alive.

"My advice is to lock it away and never look at it again."

"And since when do you give advice to me?" Mercer snapped. He reached down and picked up the bundle.

"Mercer. This is a mistake." Hazard took a step forward and jabbed a sooty finger at the bundle in his lap. "That...thing will destroy us all. There was a reason both Heaven and Hell decided to take it off the board."

"She's right." Charlie spoke from the doorway.

Mercer looked up in surprise. "Well, well. Nice to see you again, Charlie. Why does Death darken my door? Have you gotten yourself cursed again?"

Charlie held up her scarred hand. The sygil was faded, the taint contained in her hand. "Did you think you were being clever? Let your little hybrid steal the book while I was occupied. This mark...inconvenient as it is, does have its moments. I knew exactly where to find it."

"Good for you," Mercer replied, unfazed. "But you're not getting it. Remember the price you paid to have the mark neutralized? This is it."

"Nothing good will come from using the book." Charlie warned.

Mercer grinned. "Perfect. I have nothing good planned."

Fin

Where one story ends...another begins.