Co-operation

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"No. Absolutely not!" Ruby Lockhart's grey eyes were narrowed in defiance, despite the fact she was stood in her commander's office right then. "Bringing them in will only bring more questions and red tape!" She insisted, her slender fists balled up by her sides.
"This isn't a discussion, Lockhart. I have my orders, and now you have yours." The grey haired man told her, though he sounded somewhat weary, like he was all too accustomed to these childish outbursts. "You are to meet your new partner at 8pm and brief them on the case. The sooner we clear this whole mess up, the sooner I can go back to letting you do things your way, alright? Believe me, I don't want these blind fools involved anymore than you do, but this last case has made local news. We need to stop it before it goes national, or global."
Ruby's lips pursed together as she continued to scowl, seeming to be considering all this new information. There was a reason she didn't have a partner; no one could put up with her hotheaded, shoot first ask questions later attitude. It created mountains of paper work, but unfortunately she came from a long line of the divisions pure bred hunters, and her skills were... invaluable. 
"Fine!" She huffed at last. "But if this yokel ends up dead because they couldn't do what I said or panics when faced with the truth, I won't be held to blame!" Having said that, she stormed from the office, waves of dark hair swinging behind her before the door slammed shut.

Ruby knew nothing of her linked past to Tobias. As far as she knew, he was simply someone she found herself undeniably attracted to. “Fine! Then get Piper out of here, and I will look for Jett.” She insisted, though the air still seemed to crackle with energy.

Tobi shook his head. "I'm not leaving without you. I have my orders. I used Jett's magic to get here. He can use it to get out. Now, let's go before.. " 
He wouldn't get the rest of the words out as the demon he was speaking of appeared. "You lot have some nerve coming here..." Azezal hissed, holding Jett's dagger.

Ruby instantly recognised the dagger, though she tried to contain her emotions and was quick to push Piper behind her. “I’d say you have balls stealing family from me, but we both know you have none.” The young woman snipped.

"Little red... He used to called you that." Azezal purred, tapping the knife against his thigh. "Back when your hair was..."
"Enough." Tobias boomed, his voice taking on a rather kingly tone. 
The demon looked him over and finally shrugged. "Give me the gypsy." He said, changing the subject. "I have marked her." 
Tobias laughed. "That's tough to do when the sorcerer who's blade you carry did that long ago. Did you not see it? The sign is clear. Only the blind would miss it. And since you've been foolish enough to try and write over it...you are breaking an ancient law. He has a right to take your head." The Hunter smiled.

Ruby had glanced up at Tobias with that little red comment, the words filling her with a strange sensation. It wasn’t the time for her to question it, however, both her brother and Piper were in danger from this demon. 
“Laws are easily broken by his kind.” She hissed, a blade that matched her brother’s in her hand now and resting against her own slender thigh. We should kill him now and deal with this ourselves!”

Tobias held up a hand. "You do not cross the law of binding. We will leave it. I'm not even sure the boy knows what he did but we cannot intervene."
"Ruby...what is he talking about?" Piper asked, frowning as she checked herself over for a mystery mark they were talking about.

“Bullshit!” Ruby hissed, clearly still rather angry. “I’ll kick Jett’s pasty white ass if he marked her!” She growled, amusingly unaware that she herself was also marked.

Azezal waved a hand over  Piper's chest. Jett's emblem began to glow his favorite color. "Damn." He snarled. "I don't have time for this."

Ruby visibly bristled when she saw the mark glow. That last thing she had wanted was for Piper to be tired to their unlucky family. The darker haired of the two woman reached out, slashing a deep gash in Azazel’s arm. “Run!” She barked at Piper, shoving the other woman forward. It was only unfortunate that Azazel was quicker than Ruby gave him credit for. Jett would be getting his dagger back, though it was currently embedded between his sister’s ribs.

Piper plunged once again into the darkness of the strange place, missing what became of her friend. Something grabbed her ankle and yanked her down, sending her face first inuck and goo.

Tobias reacted badly to this, going after the demon with his sword out. "I'll murder you!"

Whatever it was, wasn’t alive for long. Jett had known the moment the mark was activated and come running. He was there just in time to see Piper fall face down. As Tobias had claimed, Jett indeed had no ammo, and he was also without his dagger. This didn’t however mean he was in any way defenceless.

“Tobi... don’t...” Ruby wheezed, fingers pressed around the dagger and wise enough not to pull it out. “Piper... you have to... have to get her out!” Even while bleeding profusely and struggling to breathe, she thought only of someone else’s safety.

Piper sat up, wiping mud off her face and beginning to cry. She didn't understand why a demon would want her. She was not powerful in any way. She was weak. He should have come for Ruby. She was amazing. 

Tobias was lost. His rage had gotten the better of him. The demon ran and he ran after it, leaving Ruby behind.

Jett was there to wipe the mud away for Piper. He then pulled her into his powerful arms, whispering that this was all his fault. “I should never have let you kick me out of the bar...”

Ruby was leaving a smeared trail of blood along the wall behind her as she attempted to follow after Piper. It wasn’t long before her feet were like lead weights though, making walking just as laboured as breathing.

Piper buried her face against his chest, taking in a shaking breath. "Home." She whispered. "I want to go...Ruby... something is wrong..."

Oddly enough Ruby's savior would come in the form of a red haired man. Red was scooping her up as she began to stumble. "It's okay." He whispered. "I'm here."

“Ruby’s a big girl.” Jett assures the young woman as he tucked some of her flame coloured hair behind her ear. “Bsides, she has that walking wall with her, right?”

“No... can’t...” Ruby insisted, trying to push him away, albeit rather feebly. “Not done... yet...Tob...”

"Something was off about him, Jett. He's acting strange I'm this place. Like he's afraid something will come up. When Azezal showed up...he talked to him like a regular person. Not a demon." Piper shook her head. "All of this is my fault. I'm so sorry."

"Look... I'll have to come back for him. For one thing, I'm not sure where we are and another you don't have time to wait around." Red said gently. "But I will come back. I swear."

“You’re just tired.” Jett replied, though Piper had noticed the things he had too. Not just now, it worried him in general how strange Ruby and Tobias were around each other. “I’ll take you home, and we can go from there.” He confirmed as he lifted her into his arms.

“No...” Ruby tried again to protest, though it was hard to even keep her eyes open and her head off Red’s shoulder st this point. Dangerous for him if Tobias happened to see.

"what about Ruby? We can't leave her here..." Piper breathed.
 Azezal appeared in front of them, shaking his head. "I'm afraid you won't be leaving here at all. I will. I have a world to conquer. And I will be using the gypsy to do it." He hissed.

Ruby would wake in the hospital in the next town over, Tobias snoring beside her.

Jett bared his his pearly teeth at Azazel, clearly having no intention of handing Piper over. “The world doesn’t even believe in your kind anymore.” He sneered.

Ruby tried to sit up as she woke, and was quickly assured that it hadn’t all been a terrible nightmare. She had indeed been stabbed, and a quick glance round also reminded her that this was a human hospital. “Should’ve just taken me home...” She muttered, adding something about having the herbs needed in her kitchen to fix what was done to her.

"But they will." The demon said darkly. "They will believe in what they can see. I will force your gypsy to give them a show they will never forget." He made no secret of where his eyes were looking, the exposed legs drapped over Jett's arm. "Right after I claim her for myself, of course..." 

"Yes we'll, the boy brought you here because he didn't know better. For now you are stuck." Tobias grumbled, opening one dark eye and yawning like a lazy cat.

“You can try.” Jett swore, holding Piper even tighter. “You really think more wont stop you even if you kill me? You can’t kill all magic, asshole.”

“Speaking of... where is he, and how did you even know I was here?” Ruby asked, clearly having not forgotten their disagreement before everything had gone to hell.

"I'm not worried about them." Azezal appeared behind Jett, raking his claws down the sorcerer's back. "Enough talking. It's time to die."

"He went to get coffee. And I don't have to talk about what I know." He muttered.

Jett stumbled forward, and despite parts of his back now hanging in ribbons, still held onto Piper. He knew with this injury he didn’t have the energy needed to get them both out of there the same way he had gotten himself and Tobias in. Piper didn’t know it yet, but she would be returning home without him.

“Oh no, Hekate forbid you sully yourself by telling me anything at all!” Ruby growled hotly.

"Jett..." Piper pressed her fingers to his shoulders, trying to heal him the way Ruby had taught her. But the wounds were too deep.
Azezal took another swipe, coming close to her face this time. "Come now, boy. Fight back."

"I told you the human is here." Tobias said. "Do you want to know that your brother is still in the other realm? Will that make it better?"

“Tell Ruby i’m... sorry.” Jett reached, pressing his lips firmly to Piper’s before she disappeared from his arms completely. “Now what, ugly?” He sneered, turning to face Azazel.

“He’s where?!” Ruby shouted, forcing herself up from the hospital bed, a hand pressed to the straining stitches in her side. “How could you just leave him there?!”

Azezal leaped on him, taking him down to the ground. He dug his claws into the young man's ribs. "I'll still get her. All I have to do is show her your head!"

Piper appeared on the end of Ruby's bed, saving Tobias from having to answer.

Jett’s jaw was clenched tightly against the pain Azazel was causing. Through it all he did manage to slam his forehead into the demon’s nose, spraying them both with blood. “She’s stronger than you give her credit for!”

Ruby was on edge as she looked at her friend, waiting a moment to see if her brother showed up a moment later. No such luck. “What happened?” She breathed, trying to hide her pain as she approached her friend and embraced her.

Azezal stumbled back, trying to shake the blur out of his vision. "I will leave this place!" He screamed, diving for Jett again. 

Piper told her friend everything, sobbing into her hair. "He sent me away...just like the last time..."

“Not without her you won’t.” Jett sneered, wearing that same cocky grin that drove people mad.

“No sweetie, he did exactly what we both went there to do; he saved you. Kett knows as well as I do that Azazel can’t be set loose on the world.” Ruby breathed.

This time the demon plunged his talons deep into Jett's stomach. He made a show of digging around until the human began to spit up blood. "Goodbye, boy." He purred. Though his farewell would fall short. The demon's eyes went wide and he let out a scream of pain before disappearing into a pile of Ash.
"What in the hell are you doing here, socerer?" The leader of the Order stood in front of Jett, his long elven ears pinned in anger. 

Piper buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking. Red returned while this was happening, a confused look on his face. "Did Jett make it back? Ruby...are you all right?"