Vae Victus

Grey Sant stared at the blood flowing through his fingers and then down and the bodies that surrounded him. He wasn't sorry. He wished there were more. In the moments of silence he wished he had done so much more. 
His back was on fire but he couldn't stop now. There was so much left to do. He put a match between his teeth and began to walk. He could hear them outside. The sirens. How stupid could they be? He'd told them. The gasoline was heavy in the air and so was the smell of natural gas. They'd learn. 
"Gr...Grey...st...op." There was a weak cry from a man behind him. 
"Still alive?" He purred, clenching the match tighter as he spoke. "Let's fix that." The gunshot slammed into the man's forehead. 
The gunshot was enough. The building and everything in it went up leaving nothing inside.

"He's finally here!" Amy Alberston ran down the hall to her Chief's office, waving the file over her head. The entire station of the Rest In Peace Division was privy to the small read head who was rather worriedly running past the desks toward the office at the back. 
Finally she arrived, gasping as she rested her hand on the knob. "Sir...Grey Sant...he's finally dead..."

Piercing grey eyes looked up from the computer screen on the desk, fingers poised over the keys as the door burst open. “Now Amy… you wouldn’t get a guys hopes up like that for no reason, would you?” Jack Remus asked with an easy grin as he finally leaned back in his chair, fingers linked behind his dark hair as he watched Amy close the door behind her. “Have they processed him yet?” He asked, now motioning that she take a seat.

Amy shook her head. Remus made her nervous. Those eyes were like liquid steel. She swore he could read into her soul. He probably knew what had gotten her into this little portion of hell, nevermind how long she was going to be here. "I don't even think the body...or what's left of it is cold yet." She said, placing the file on his desk. "Don't tell me you've already picked his partner..." She finally sat, smoothing her hands down her legs two or three times. "He made a mess of things on his way out. He took out his entire division but I couldn't get a clear view on why. The books on that weren't open and the Reaper who took him insisted that he was to be mind wiped. So...whatever he knew and whatever went on there...I guess...it's over? But...We all know there's that part that never forgets...what if he...Chief...This guy isn't safe. Especially not for our division. Our guys are trying to make amends. This guy is...He's a monster."

Remus was grinning like a fool the longer he allowed Amy to talk. This silver eyes she swore saw into her soul were twinkling with mischievous malcontent. He had the perfect partner. “Not everyone here  wants out.” With those words, that narrowed his choice down considerably. “Some of them just can’t give up on the thrill of what we do.” He was tapping away as his computer again as he leaned forward, no more than a moment later a roar of both anger and annoyance echoed down the hallway; his email had been received. 
“What the fuck!” The door burst open with far less care than when Amy had entered. “I told you, I work alone, Remus!” The dark haired woman who entered seemed to care little for rank or hierarchy. Her violet eyes were blazing as she slammed an open palm down on the desk.

Amy heard the voice and was diving for the file cabinets on the side of Remus' desk. She was all but in his lap when the violet eyed woman burst into the room. She was more than a little certain she was going to die a second time when her eyes met the liquid steel ones that were locked on her. 
She gave him a sheepish smile as she reached for a file drawer. "Sorry....Tripped..." She muttered.

“Well good morning to you too, Lilith.” Remus replied cheerfully, knowing it would annoy her. 
The other woman was like arching Amy with a sullen expression. “Why so jumpy?” She snorted, pulling her hand back only so she could fold her arms across her chest. “I’m not doing it. You can’t make me.” She told Remus childishly. 
“Oh?” Remus arched his brow in amusement. “What if I said I had work you term was up… they were sending you upstairs?” 
If possible, Lilith actually pales even further at this. “No, no way! I have another 100 years left yet!” 
Remus simply smirked.

"I don't think she's the one to handle Grey anyway." Amy said fishing a file from the cabinet and shaking her head. "I would recommend Taylor and Erebus. Erebus is getting a review too. He's been looking for a reason to stick around, you know." She made a show of looking through the folder even though the one in question was on the Chief's desk.

Lilith knew what Amy was doing… but fell for it any way. “Erebus is a hack! Doesn’t know his ass from his elbow!” She growled. 
Remus was trying his best not to look at Amy, or he would burst out laughing. “No, I think you’re right. He’s too much for a little girl like you…”

"I'll go get him." Amy said with a nod, handing Remus the file. Once again her eyes met his as their fingers touched. It was there. That strange feeling in her stomach whenever they touched. It made her insides tingle. 
Soon enough Erebus and Taylor were leading in a cursing and violent silver haired man who was all but completely chained. They forced him to sit in the chair across from the Remus and locked him in. Erebus gave Lilith a nasty smile. "Let me guess, this is your fault." He snorted.

“What’s the matter? Still sore about something?” Lilith asked with a falsely sweet smile, reaching up and patting Erebus’ cheek. “400 years later and men still think they know everything.” She snorted.
“Children.” Remus warned, his good humour seemingly gone as soon as Amy was. “Lilith will take first stab at this… thing.” He informed them, looking Grey over. “When she fails, THEN you will get your shot, Erebus.” Clearly he had little faith Lilith would cope with a partner at all, after all the drama she caused while partnered with Erebus.

"Yeah, let her go first for the fuck." Erebus snarled. "I get it. I've been around long enough to play that game too." He waved a hand at Taylor. 
The young man had hardly been on the force for more than a hundred years. He'd been betrayed by a mobster and he knew well to keep his nose clean. He nodded his blonde head at the Chief and then at Lilith. "You'll do fine." He said gently. "It's always the hardest stones that are the most beautiful on the inside." 
"What a pile of shit, rookie." Erebus laughed. "I've got to stop letting you watch the human channels at night." He added, waving the other man out.

"The hell are you people talking about me like I'm a piece of meat?!" Grey shouted at Remus. "Where the hell am I?!" He didn't say it out loud but he truly wanted to know more than these questions. Aside from his name and minor details about himself, he knew nothing. His mind was nothing but smoke and fire.

Lilith had good reason to take a dislike to most men; her death had come at the hands of a mob of them during the witch trials. She had seemingly made the mistake of being an herbalist with a knack for medicine, of course… she also poisoned a fair few men in her time. 
When Grey finally spoke, Lilith leaned down in front of him, poking his face with a slender finger. “You sure this one is real? Shouldn’t he have been briefed before we got him?”

Deep blue eyes met Lilith's violet ones. "Briefed about what?" Grey asked, again turning his head to look at the Chief. "What are you people planning here? Are you going to execute me or something? Fucking hell! Will someone start talking! I wake up in a room full of smoke...choking to death and your boys burst in and chain me like I'm a dog. What the hell?"
This woman...her touch...the spark had been something he'd never felt before. It made his stomach feel like it was doing somersaults. Like something inside him had finally woken up. He could feel it and he wasn't sure how or why he even knew this. "And you...how do I know you?" He asked, his eyes again sweeping over Lilith.

“You’re chained like the dog you are.” Lilith commented, ignoring his question about knowing her; she made it a point to avoid familiarity. “I give this one a week before he’s dragged downstairs.” She snorted, long hair sliding over her shoulder as she tilted her head slightly, still watching Grey with curiosity. 
“Enough!” Remus barked, getting a headache just from these last few minutes. “Lilith, take your new partner down to the quartermaster. Get him geared up, I want you
Both ready for assignment within the hour.” He decided the best way to fill Grey in on what they do was to simply drop him into it.

Grey shook his head. "I'm not going with her. I'm not going to be called a dog. Not by a bitch like that." He hissed. "I'm perfectly fine where I am or you can drag me downstairs. I'm good with that one too." 
"Mr. Reaper is here with the Grey report." Amy said, poking her head in. Her face looked pale. It always did when the Reapers showed up to Remus' office. "He's not happy." She whispered. "He refused my coffee." That seemed to upset her most. The numbered Reapers didn't refuse Amy's famous offerings. Mr. Reaper was the head man, this was bad.

“It’s cute you think you have a choice.” Lilith sneered, hooking her fingers into Grey’s nose and dragging him to the door. “And that you think botch would insult me. I like being a bitch.” She added. 
Remis froaned and rubbed at the throbbing spot between his eyebrows. “This can’t be good… he never delivers reports personally. You two, get out of my sight!” He growled at Lilith and Grey. “Amy, please show Mr. Reaper in.”

Grey got to his feet, stumbling to follow Lilith. The chains disappeared as he stood leaving him wearing the clothes he was in the last time he'd woken up. At least...he thought so....
In the hallway he froze, for some reason grabbing for Lilith's upper arm. The hallway was nothing but darkness and smoke. He remembered that sensation. 
The man that passed them was tall and slender with eyes so black it was like looking into a void. He turned his head, his long black hair sliding aside to reveal a cheek of bone and teeth. The man seemed like an illusion as he turned back and a sunken gaunt figure walked past them and then paused at Amy, giving her the same strange stare. "You will never leave this place, child." He whispered to her, before sweeping past and closing the door.

Lilith glanced down at the large fingers holding her slender arm, then back up into Grey’s deep blue eyes. “I’d remove that, if you want to keep it.” She warned. 

“It’s unusual to see you out here, sir.” Remus commented nervously. “It was t as though Mr Reaper could do much to him, but just the sight of him made the chief nervous.

"What the hell was that?" Grey asked, still holding onto Lilith's arm. He was keenly aware that the hallway was now extremely light. It almost made his eyes burn. "How did he know me?" The man hadn't said his name, not aloud at least. But his mind had been filled with fire and a pleading voice that spoke his name. 

"I heard it was your choice to bring Grey here." Reaper said, his voice dark and slow. "He should have gone straight downstairs. His crimes were many. I think you are aware of that." He folded his hands in his lap. "The master has agreed with you on this decision but you should know the cost of this is high for you."

“Death knows everyone, or are you too stupid to grasp even that?” Lilith snorted, finally snatching her arm free. She didn’t like the way her skin seemed to tingle where this mountain of a man touched her. 

Remus nodded his head, the movement barely even distinguishable. “I know the cost… i reform a monster like that… she gets her sentence cut, right? Her remaining years in service transfer to me?”

Grey said nothing to this, thinking Lilith had gotten more than a screw loose somewhere. He needed to find a way to escape. These people were all crazy and he needed to find his way home. He shook his hand the way she had shaken her arm and frowned. 
His fingers were itching. This was a bad sign. He didn't know why but he knew this. He rubbed at them and continued to follow the woman, pausing when he saw the two men who'd been there when he'd woken up. She'd called the shorter of the two Erebus...the one with the brown slicked back hair. "Greasy son of a bitch aren't you." He hissed. His fingers were itching. 

Mr. Reaper shook his head. "You haven't spoken to the master then have you?" He asked, his tone deadpan. "Your sentence has been suspended indefinitely. So has that of your soul mate. Your choice to bring hell on others has cost you."

Lilith didn’t even try to hide her grin at that comment. “Greasy… second best… runner up, just can’t step out of my shadow, can you Erbie?” She mocked. 

“What?!” Remus couldn’t control himself in that brief moment and shot yo to his feet. “My punishment shouldn’t be to punish her!” He roared.

"Look at that Raybourne!" Erebus said, slapping the desk as he looked at Grey. "Old Lil is better than all of us! She's already taught her new dog a trick!" 
The man in the cell on the wall behind him guffawed, the sound rather raspy. "Wonder what else the bitch can do?" He grunted. 
Grey grabbed the front of Erebus' shirt and tossed him across the room. The smaller man's back hit the cell with a loud crunch. It took no more than a moment for the man inside to respond and he was pulling him inside. 
Grey's dark blue eyes narrowed slightly, trying not to give away his surprise as the other man's body became like liquid and slid through the metal. Then the man called Raybourne was growing into a hulking beast and roaring, his massive hands around Erebus' throat. The man on the outside was smiling, unable to help himself.

Mr. Death again shook his head. "It is too late. The agreement was signed in soul blood. Was it not?" The dark figure rose to his feet and fixed his void like eyes on Remus. "You humans are strange creatures. You never knew her in life? Why is it so important to lay down your soul for her now?"

Lilith appeared bored, pausing to apparently pick at some of the deep red polish on one of her nails. “Have fun in there, Erbie, I heard it took the last guy a month to get rid of the stench of a deado.” She mused, already walking away. 

“It’s all I have of any worth.” Remus replied simply. It was the honest truth, and he never wanted Amy to know any of it. He went to great lengths to avoid touching her, knowing the feeling of longing he would be left with was as bad as the torture they performed downstairs.

"Deado?" Grey asked, following Lilith. He was admittedly disappointed but at least his fingers didn't itch anymore. He passed by other people who stopped speaking as they passed. 

"Make the best of your afterlife, Remus. You're going to be here a while." Mr. Death said, disappearing where he stood.
At that moment, Amy poked her head in. "Sir, she did it again...Erebus is in one of the cells...sorry to be a bother but this is serious."

“You’ll find out soon.” Lilith replied with a smirk, her violet eyes twinkling as she glanced back over her shoulder. She couldn’t wait to get out there. If she had known life was this good after you died, she would have killed more men with her garden.

Remus let his head fall back and groaned loudly. “Why does Erebus keep falling for it?” He growled as he pushed himself to his feet.

Grey was silent as the quartermaster suited him up and handed both of them their weapons. 
He barely listened as he stared down at the sleek black weapon in his hand. It was so familiar and yet he had no idea why. 
"Be careful with that one." The old man warned Lilith. He leaned close to speak. "There's something about him...His cost is high..."

Amy laughed as she held open the door for Remus. "You know him. Until he feels he has gotten the better of Lil he never will." Her fingers brushed his as they passed one another and she paused, unable to help but smile.

“What’s he going to do, kill me?” Lilith smirked, sliding her own weapon into place. “He will last just as long as all the others, then I can back to actually doing my job, and not babysitting fresh meat.”

Remus snatched his fingers away, knowing how distracted he was when the soul spark flared between them. “I should force them back together, maybe then she can just fuck him over and I won’t have to keep reaching him.” He muttered. “They were the absolute worst partners in the history of the RIPD.”

The old man shook his head at her. "Downstairs is worse than the suffering you left behind." He snorted shuffling his way into the pile of orders he had set out across the room.
"Babysit yourself, princess. I'm getting the hell out of here." Grey snapped, stalking past her and down the hall. He'd seen a map. There were elevators. He was heading there first.

Amy nodded. Erebus' shouts for the large deado to let him go kept her from being able to say anything more. 
When they reached the main room the man was shoving parts of Erebus out of the cell. The rest of the detectives were simply laughing.
Raybourne stopped when he saw Amy and licked his lips. "Hey there, Missy." He grunted. "Where's that coffee you promised me?"

Lilith smiled and winked at the old man, they both knew Grey wouldn’t get very far. “I hope he at least makes it out of the building, been a while since I worked up a sweat.” She commented. “And I really want to shoot him.”

“You don’t even glance in her direction, Ray.” Remus remarked coolly. “You already have a chew toy, what could you possibly need coffee for?”