"Assumptions are dangerous things."

-Agatha Christie

                                                                              ***

"I'm hungry," Sirius said, turning down the radio.

"What?" Galloway asked, looking over at him.

He sighed. "I'm. Hungry."

"For real?" Galloway asked. "Four more hours and we're home. Can't you wait?"

"I could always just eat you," Sirius said, a wicked glimmer in his eyes. He leaned over and sniffed delicately at her neck. "I'd bet you taste delicious."

Galloway smacked the back of her hand against his chest and he pulled away, grinning at her as his fangs lengthened. She just rolled her eyes. "I'm not Little Red Riding Hood so you can drop the Big Bad Wolf act. If you're really that hungry, we'll stop."

Sirius glared at her then. "I would never cry wolf about being hungry."

"Clever," Galloway said dryly, exiting the freeway. "What do you want to eat?"

"All of it," Sirius groaned dramatically, clutching at his stomach. He whined and batted his eyelashes at her. "I would kill for a bloody steak."

"Too bad we're not in Texas, otherwise I would have taken that literally." Galloway grinned at him, looking around for someplace that would meet his requirement.

She finally found what she was looking for and parked. Sirius closed his eyes as he sniffed at the air, and Galloway heard a low growl. She cocked her head. "Was that you... or your stomach?"

"Isn't it kind of one in the same?" Sirius replied, then shrugged, getting out of the car.

Galloway frowned, considering that. "I suppose it is."

They walked up to the small restaurant and Sirius held the door open for her. She smiled and said, "You know? I kind of miss that people don't do that anymore."

"Do what?" Sirius inquired, looking down at her. His stomach growled again as the warm scent of the restaurant wafted toward them.

Galloway shrugged, walking into the restaurant. "Hold the door open. Say 'hello' when you pass them on the street. I don't know. Stuff."

Sirius frowned lightly before he turned to the hostess, quietly requesting a table for two. They didn't speak as the woman led them to their table. 

"You're rather nostalgic for a Collector," Sirius observed once they were alone.

"Am I not allowed to be?" Galloway asked, scowling at her menu instead of Sirius. She glanced up and he shrugged, studying her over the top of her menu. She looked back down quickly and said, "You already know what you want?"

"Uh-huh," Sirius said a little sarcastically and she swore she could still feel his eyes burning into her. 

Finally, he sighed. "It's just different, I suppose. Most other Collectors I've met don't really...care all that much, I guess. About anything."

"Hazard of the position," she muttered.

Their conversation was suspended when the waitress came to take their orders. Galloway was amused by the fact that the woman barely looked at her, her eyes glued to Sirius.

"I would like a steak, about as close to alive as you can get it," he requested as he handed her his menu, never once looking at her. He was still watching Galloway, which seemed to kind of irritate the waitress, who finished off their orders before leaving them again.

"What do you mean, 'hazard of the position'?" Sirius asked, sounding truly curious.

Galloway bit at her lip. "I don't really know how to explain it."

"Well why don't you at least take a swing?" Sirius asked, crossing his arms. His stomach growled again and she had to stifle a laugh.

"I don't know. I mean, I guess eventually, if you do this for long enough, you would stop caring about anything." She shrugged, frowning. "We don't age, so we see all sorts of change. Some good, but mostly bad. If you ignore the change for long enough, you stop caring about what's not there anymore. Then there's, you know, our job. Collecting isn't something that's all that enjoyable, you know?"

Sirius gave her a blank look and she repressed an irritated sigh. 

"I—jeez, I don't freaking know! It's a little better when you're working with a Hound." She shook her head when he grinned and said, "Don't get all cocky. It's just because I don't have to touch the Souls that way. Death by Hellhound is an instant ticket to Hell. You don't pass go, you don't collect two hundred dollars. When they die any other way, you have to actually catch their Soul. You have to hold the essence of a person in your hand, then feel as they're pulled through you into Hell."

"I've never met a Collector who didn't like that sensation." Sirius ran a finger around the rim of his water glass, frowning. "If you don't like touching their Souls, why haven't you requested a Hellhound before?"

"I didn't request you," Galloway said hotly. 

It was jarring to think that she was an oddity in her intense hatred of feeling a Soul get pulled to Hell. She hadn't met a large number of other Collectors and had always just assumed that they felt the same way she did about it. It was unsettling to think that anything that was at least still part human could enjoy something like that.

He raised an eyebrow in careless acknowledgement, then nodded, unfazed by her tone. "That doesn't answer my question."

Galloway sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, then sat up when she realized she was mirroring him. He smiled at her wryly and said, "Do you mind if I venture a guess?"

Her mouth opened in surprise, but all she did was shake her head.

Sirius tugged at his tie, loosening it even more than it already was, and Galloway kind of wondered why he bothered wearing one at all. He tilted his head. "Because..." He smiled, seemingly to himself, and said quietly, "Because you don't want to follow the rules. Because they chafe at you like chains. And because, somehow, Hell screwed up and turned a truly good Soul into a Collector."

He looked up at her, the low lighting of the restaurant making his eyes like the ocean at sunset. "You don't want a Hellhound around because maybe, just maybe, if Hell realized how good you still are, they'd want to do something about it."

All Galloway could do was stare at him. She continued staring at him when the waitress came back with their food, and even when he started eating.

"Or is it just the hunting thing?" he finally said, fork hovering just in front of his mouth. He smiled when she blinked and continued eating, letting the silence stretch.

"Uh..." She shook her head, looking down at her grilled chicken.

"It's okay," Sirius said. "You don't have to answer."

The way he said that made Galloway think he already knew the answer. She didn't think that was a good thing.

They ate in silence for a while until she muttered, "Truly good Soul, huh? Why would you think that?"

"Why else would you hunt?" Sirius responded, answering her question with a question.

"Maybe I like the rush," Galloway snapped.

He laughed. "I'm sure that's a perk. But it's not why you do it."

"Why do you want to know?" she said viciously, unsure about where this was going. "What's it matter why I do anything?"

"Why did you think I'd tell Theron that you'd left to hunt in Chicago?" Sirius shot back, polishing off the steak. She was a little amazed by his ability to practically inhale food and hold a conversation all at the same time.

"Why wouldn't you?" Part of her wondered if this entire conversation would just be a series of questions shot back and forth between them.

Sirius growled. "Why do I get the feeling we're going around in circles here?" He set his fork down, the metal clattering against the plate. "Why would I say anything, Galloway? We'd finished with the Debts. If you wanted to blow off a little steam that's none of my business. Like I told you before, I don't really care about your hunting."

"That would make you just about the only one in Hell who doesn't," Galloway said under her breath. Raising her voice, she answered, "I hunt because I like to."

He rubbed at his eyes before he sighed and leveled an unamused look on her. "Yeah. No. Funnily enough I understood that part. But don't lie to me, okay? I don't like the way lies make you smell."

"Well how's this for truth," Galloway snapped, taken aback by what he'd said. "I don't trust you, so why would I tell you anything, ever?"

They stared at each other, Sirius' eyes flickering down to her mouth before he acknowledged, "That's fair. But we're from Hell. When has trust ever been part of the equation?"

She shook her head. "I don't freaking know!"

Sirius smirked. "Do you want to trust me?"

"I don't want to do anything with you," Galloway said, voice sharp. She cut herself off when the waitress came back with the bill. She paid for the meal, then stood up, looking down at Sirius. "Really the only thing I want is to go back to not constantly looking over my shoulder all the time."

She walked out of the restaurant, Sirius following quietly behind her. Just before she could unlock the car, her phone rang. Pulling it from her pocket, Galloway groaned when she saw who it was.

"Yes?" she answered tersely.

"You have another assignment," Theron said, sounding distracted.

"I didn't miss anyone in Chicago, Theron!" she snapped. "I'm not that stupid. I wouldn't let someone go."

"That's not what I said," the demon replied coolly. "I said you have another assignment. I already sent you the details. They're in your car."

He hung up and Galloway resisted the urge to throw her phone as far as she could across the parking lot. She unlocked the car and waited as Sirius took out a folder that was on the passenger seat.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" he muttered, flipping through the folder, which was blessedly thin.

"What is it?" Galloway asked with dread.

He sighed, tossing the folder back into the car. "How do you feel about Kansas? 'Cause, personally? Not a fan."

She groaned. "That's like three days in the opposite direction!"

"Oh, look at that, she can read a map." Sirius ran a hand through his hair, then dodged a roundhouse kick from Galloway. He smiled. "You want me to drive?"

"Get in the car, Sirius," she said, defeated.

The engine growled to life, only to roar with delight when Galloway let it go down the freeway. 

Sirius sighed and asked, "How have you not been arrested yet?"

She just grinned, her frustration momentarily abated in the rush of speed. 

He shook his head as she wove easily between cars. "Or been in a horrific fiery wreck?"

"I'm a good driver," Galloway said, the speedometer inching toward one-ten. She laughed. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to get killed in a car crash." She frowned, reconsidering. Almost to herself, she said, "It would have to be one hell of a wreck."

"Someone else might," Sirius grumbled, growling when she had to hit the brakes to avoid someone on their cellphone. "Be killed," he clarified. She smiled at him innocently, but slowed down a little. He shook his head. "Can you at least keep it below a hundred?"

"You take all the fun out of everything," Galloway sulked, sticking her tongue out at him, even as she did what he asked. "It's not my driving you have to worry about you know," she added. "It's the other people."

"Famous last words," Sirius said, looking down at their new assignment.

"What is it?" Galloway asked, then flinched at the dread evident in her voice.

Sirius frowned slightly. "Nothing good. Just some politician. Sold her Soul for her district. That's cute."

"What?" Galloway asked. She got off the highway in favor of less crowded roads as the evening rush-hour started to pick up.

"I'm just curious as to how one would sell their Soul when they don't have one to begin with." Sirius tossed the folder onto the dash, then had to scramble to catch it when she turned, the car fishtailing.

He growled at her, the sound menacing. Galloway sent them sliding around the next turn, laughing when he swore at her. She took the next couple curves in the same fashion before slowing down and saying, "You don't like politicians?"

"Does anyone?" Sirius grumbled, tucking the folder next to his seat.

She shrugged and let herself just enjoy the drive for a while, watching the sun set. When it was completely dark, and all she could see of Sirius was a darker outline and the occasional glint of his eyes, she asked, "What did you mean, when you said I'm still good?"

"What's confusing about it?" Sirius responded, his voice a little sleepy.

"What about me makes you think I'm good?" Galloway's lips pressed together in a pained line. "I'm not. How could I be? I work for Hell, for crying out loud."

Sirius snorted and said, "What difference does that make? So you work for Hell, so what? You also hunt." She heard as he turned to look at her, sure his Hellhound eyes could make her out perfectly. "What you do makes you who you are. So who are you?"

Galloway's head snapped over to look at him, and he said, "You're a Hunter. You're a Collector. It doesn't matter nearly as much as people think it does." He sighed and leaned against the window. "You just smell good." He laughed, waving a hand in her general direction. "In more ways than one."

She was silent after that, feeling like her head was spinning around in circles. Finally she asked, "Why don't you care?"

"Hm?" Sirius mumbled, sounding half asleep.

"Why don't you care that I hunt?" she repeated. "Or that I'm..."

"Not normal? A rule breaker?" Sirius finished for her. He stifled a yawn. "Hell if I know."

He was quiet for long enough that Galloway had thought he'd fallen asleep when he said, "Because it's interesting. You're interesting."

She shook her head, unsure of how to answer.

Sirius laughed again. "And I'm not working for Theron, you know. I don't like him any more than you do."

After saying that, he fell asleep, leaving Galloway to stew in her own confusion.