"About the only time losing is more fun than winning is when you're fighting temptation."

- Tom Wilson

                                                                              ***

Galloway woke up with Sirius' breath playing across the back of her neck and his arm slung over her waist.

Carefully, she untangled herself and sat up. Sirius murmured something and turned his head. She leaned over to watch in amazement as the last silvery remnants of a scar disappeared right before her eyes.

Gently, she touched where the bite mark had been. She coughed in surprise when she was slammed back into the mattress, her wrists pinned above her head. 

A snarl slipped through Sirius' lengthening teeth. Then, he blinked, his eyes focusing on her face. He let out a sharp breath. "Galloway?"

She frowned at him. "Get off of me."

Sirius blinked again, still looking a little confused. He did as she asked and she sat up, glaring at him.

He noticed and glared back. "Don't sneak up on me if you don't like the consequences," he snapped.

"You invited me over remember?" Galloway said, voice heated, now one hundred percent sure this had been a terrible idea. That was the last time she let her aching muscles convince her of anything.

"Well I didn't think you'd do it!" He narrowed his eyes, indignant. Imitating her, he said, "It's not allowed, Sirius. It's against the rules."

She took an irritated swipe at him and he rolled off the bed to avoid it. She rolled her eyes when he stuck his tongue out at her as he pulled on a pair of jeans.

She crossed her arms, the covers pooling around her waist. "Don't be such a juvenile. And what's not allowed, Sirius? Sleeping? We're both way more than adults here."

Sirius leered at her before jumping back on the bed on all fours, and she could see the graceful movements of a wolf as he prowled toward her. Galloway scrambled backwards, but he trapped her against the wall.

She couldn't help the peeved sigh that escaped as she wondered if this was just his new game—taking the whole 'invade Galloway's personal space' thing to the next level.

With another sinister smile, he said, "You know what's not allowed."

He leaned forward and bit her collarbone, making her gasp. A shudder ran through her when he traced his tongue over the place his teeth had been. Galloway shoved him backwards and slapped his face, which just made him laugh.

Then, like nothing had happened, he rolled off the bed and said, "I feel like pancakes are a good 'morning after vampire killing' breakfast. What do you think? I mean, I'm kinda new to this whole thing but pancakes sounds good. With bacon. Lots of bacon. And syrup."

Galloway flipped him off, then went to her room, quickly getting dressed. She grabbed her phone and keys, shoving them down into her pockets. The smell of old blood tainted the air and she wrinkled her nose, going back into Sirius' room.

He gave her a cocky smile and she rolled her eyes as her stomach growled, making him laugh. He stepped toward her and she mirrored him, taking a step back. Now he rolled his eyes and said, "Will you get me breakfast if I promise to be on my best behavior? I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Galloway sighed but nodded. She had decided while she got dressed that the best course of action would be to ignore his new little game and not let it faze her. Although, that was easier said than done...

She rubbed at her collarbone unconsciously, scowling at him when he grinned. Innocently, he said, "I see what you mean about the biting, though."

Now Galloway blushed and turned to storm out, but froze when she heard someone pounding on the outside door that led to her room. She looked at Sirius in horror when she heard the click of the lock and someone shouting, "Police! We're coming in!"

"Son of a bitch," Galloway groaned and he grabbed her hand.

"I think we're about to get run out of town, sweetheart," he said, pulling her toward the door.

She yanked away from him. "Remember about the Hellhound fur rug?"

He laughed, peeking out his door, waiting until the police were in Galloway's room. "You didn't seem to mind last night."

"I had a concussion, Sirius," she whispered furiously as they made their way down the hall toward the stairs. "Anything I said meant nothing. My brains were all scrambled."

"Too bad," he muttered under his breath, listening. He motioned for her to follow and they sprinted down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Suddenly, Sirius threw an arm out, stopping her in her tracks. Then, before she could ask what it was, he crushed her up against the wall, his mouth hot on hers.

Galloway hit his chest, grinning in delight when she felt his breath whoosh out, but he didn't stop. She hissed in fury, but he just pressed closer. Still holding onto her wrists, he brought their arms above her head, resting his forearms on the wall behind her.

She frowned when it was like he was hiding their faces.

Understanding came after a moment, when two blond guys in suits walked up the stairs past them, eyes trained awkwardly on the ground.

When they were gone, Sirius stepped back, rubbing ruefully at his chest. Offended, he hissed, "They're carrying silver bullets, Galloway. I guess your neat little Jedi mind trick didn't work so good."

Galloway looked up the stairs after the men, eyes widening. She bit her lip, appalled and furious and said, "So your first idea was to kiss me?"

Sirius looked at her dryly. "What happened to 'we're both adults here'?" He rolled his eyes and said, "They didn't look at us, in case you missed it. Which means we can get something to eat before we have to blow town."

"Seriously?" she asked, ignoring his dark look. It wasn't her fault he'd picked such a weird name. "There are Hunters in town and you're still worried about your pancakes?"

"Well I'm not worried about the Hunters, Galloway," he said, starting down the stairs again. "They'd need a demon blade to kill me and last I checked, those aren't too terribly common up here."

"They wouldn't need a demon blade to kill me," Galloway pointed out, squinting when they got out into the bright morning sun, ducking around the side of the hotel to avoid the cops outside the front doors. Her mouth was still buzzing a little.

"I've faith you can handle yourself, sweetheart," he said absently then growled when she punched his shoulder. He glared at her. "What? You're gonna tenderize me before you skin me?"

Galloway pinched the bridge of her nose and resisted the urge to hit him again. She got the distinct impression that he would enjoy any fight she started way too much. She reached for her keys, then promptly had a heart attack when they weren't there.

"Looking for these?" Sirius asked, jingling her keys at her, that infuriating grin on his face.

"Give me my keys, Sirius!" Galloway had to try hard not to yell, afraid it would draw attention. She had the thought that it was really too bad that her gun was currently locked in the trunk.

Sirius stood there, the keys glittering in the sun as he tossed them from hand to hand, just out of her reach. Looking her up and down, he said, "I will if you kiss me again."

Galloway's mouth dropped open. Shaking her head, she said, "Are you insane?"

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe a little. But so are you. I like that little touch of madness, though." She just shook her head and Sirius pouted. "Aw, what do you think's going to happen, Galloway? That Theron will just happen to show up and catch us like a couple naughty teenagers?"

She tried to grab her keys but he held them higher out of her reach. Growling she said, "Maybe. But he's not going to freaking ground us, Sirius! He'll kill us."

He chuckled low in the back of his throat, looking down at her, eyelashes throwing shadows across his cheekbones as he said, "I'd invite him to try. I'd like an actual challenge for once."

"Oh, what," Galloway asked, still trying to snag her keys, "the nest of vampires wasn't enough for you?"

He grinned down at her. "You're really not going to just kiss me?"

"No!" Galloway hissed. Then she jumped up, using his shoulder for leverage and grabbed the keys. Shaking them at him, she ran around to the driver's side, pausing before she got in to say, "Ha!"

Sirius sighed, getting into the car. "Well, it was worth a shot."

They drove to a small hole-in-the-wall diner and Sirius ordered an enormous stack of pancakes, an entire plate of bacon and coffee.

Galloway shook her head watching in awe as he all but inhaled the food. More sedately, she cut into her own pancake and couldn't stop herself from glancing out the window, watching for the Hunters.

"They probably just came to check out the vamp problem," Sirius said, startling her. She nodded, savoring the sweetness of the syrup, then looked at him again in surprise when he asked, "Why do you do it?"

She swallowed, lingering over a sip of her own coffee to avoid the question, then finally said, "Do what?"

He growled at her. "Are we really back to that? I mean, do we need to do some other kind of crazy Hunter trust exercise before you'll tell me this?" Looking at her through lowered lashes over his coffee cup, he said, "I'm just curious, Galloway. That's all. Just curious."

"Why'd you kill your last Collector?" Galloway shot back, her heart jumping when she spotted a blond man in a suit, then relaxed when he wasn't either of the two Hunters from the hotel. She turned back and, copying him, said, "I'm just curious, Sirius."

"Very funny," he said dryly. He scratched idly at his jaw, leaning back in his seat, just watching her and Galloway stared back. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "Fair enough."

She looked down into her coffee, relieved and disappointed all at the same time.

It wasn't necessarily that she had a problem telling Sirius. It's just that it hurt to remember why she had started down this path.

Looking at Sirius, she didn't think that was why he wouldn't share, and wondered what exactly was bad enough to make a Hellhound kill anyone other than a Debt. Much less their Collector.

She took another sip of coffee, grimacing when it was cold and sighed, throwing a couple twenties onto the table. 

With a laugh, Sirius said, "I think that's more than fifteen percent, Galloway."

She stood up and shrugged. "Your point?"

Sirius grinned and followed her from the restaurant. "No point. Just an observation." He stopped by the car and said, "Do you—"

"Just get in the goddamn car," Galloway sighed and he laughed again.

                                                                     ~~~

The ride back home didn't seem to take nearly as long as she thought it would. Probably because she had elected to let Sirius drive instead of stopping in Denver or St. Louis.

Galloway sighed happily as she pulled up to her apartment building.

Sirius stretched and practically bolted from the car. "I'm sleeping for a week!"

She smiled in spite of herself, entertained and vaguely enchanted by Sirius. She thought that if he had a tail right now it would probably be wagging, but decided to keep that observation to herself.

Getting out of the car, she frowned when her phone buzzed. Galloway sighed and pulled it out of her pocket, desperately hoping it was anyone but Theron and smiled when it was Logan. The smile dropped when she remembered how she had ended their last conversation.

His text confirmed some of her thoughts. It read: At your earliest convenience let me know you're not dead and/or in Hell. If you are dead, then I suppose I get your cars. Oh, and your damn hex bag is done.

Galloway grimaced and turned, just to jump about a foot in the air when Sirius was there looking over her shoulder. She kicked at him, her foot connecting with his hip, shoving him away. Shouting, she said, "The hell, Sirius! You can't just read over other people's shoulders. What is wrong with you?"

Sirius frowned, seeming to consider. "Would you like me to list it out alphabetically, or by importance and magnitude?"

She groaned somewhat dramatically, dragging her hands down her face. He raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "What's he mean by cars, plural?"

"Never mind," she growled, some part of her surprised he hadn't asked about the hex bag. Maybe he hadn't read that part.

She took her house key off of the ring and tossed it to Sirius. Turning back to her car, she said, "I need to go see Logan. You can't come because he doesn't like you and he could make me bleed from my eyeballs. He's already mad at me so you're staying here." She got into the car and rolled down the window. "I'm sure you can find some way to entertain yourself for a couple hours."

Giving her big puppy dog eyes, he said, "I was hoping you would entertain me."

"Not on your life, buddy," Galloway snapped before peeling out of the parking lot. Sirius loped back to the building, looking supremely unconcerned as she watched him in the rear view mirror. 

With a sigh, she wondered just how pissed Logan was at her.

When she got to his house, the front door swung open by itself. He was standing in the living room, arms crossed, looking exactly as mad as Galloway had thought he'd be.

Before he could say anything, she threw up her hands and, almost stumbling over her words, said, "I was hunting vampires. Got a concussion. Fell asleep. Missed a collection deadline. Freaked out and hung up on you. It was a horrible, terrible, very bad mistake and I'm very, very, very, very sorry."

Logan's left eye twitched in a choleric fashion as he said, "You were doing what and you what?"

"I was hunting a nest of vampires," Galloway started meekly.

"A nest!" Logan shouted. "By yourself?"

Galloway shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "Um. No. Not really. Um... Sirius maybe, kinda helped me." Her voice got smaller with each word she spoke.

Logan's mouth opened, then snapped shut and he threw his hands up into the air. He turned sharply on his heel and stalked through the living room, into the kitchen where he started banging around through the cabinets.

Galloway hesitated, finding it very tempting to just run back out the door until Logan cooled off.

She jumped when he shouted, "Galloway! Kitchen! Now!"

She crept to the kitchen, feeling like a dog with its tail between its legs and stopped at the kitchen door. Logan pointed at her and used his magic to drag her across the room, all but throwing her in a chair.

At her reproachful look, he muttered, "Sorry. But only kinda."

He sat across from her and said, "Now. You're going to explain all of it. In a coherent story, point by point. Then I'll decide if I still want to banish you to an alternate universe. One where you don't scare the holy hell out of me every other week."

Galloway took a deep breath and launched into the whole thing: her crazy load of assignments, the forced road trip with Sirius, him wanting to stay in a nice hotel, Monica and the hex bag, the vampires, missing the collection, Sirius helping with that too, then the aftermath including the Hunters and what had happened in the stairwell.

Logan sat with his arms crossed, frowning at her the entire time he listened. When she finished, he rubbed at his eyes wearily and sighed. "And I thought my week was bad."

Tentatively she asked, "So...are you still mad?"

"Probably," Logan said, shaking his head. "But I'm almost always mad so I guess it's whatever."

He got up and fixed them some tea, which let Galloway know she actually was forgiven. He sat back down with another weary sigh and studied her over his mug's rim. She shifted a little uncomfortably, his old eyes seeing more than she probably wanted him to.

"Why don't you just sleep with him?" Logan finally asked, making her choke on her tea.

Eyes watering, she glared up at him. "Am I the only sane one anymore?"

Logan scratched at his chin and shrugged. "No. And what's the problem with that? I mean, he's...attractive enough."

Galloway snorted at Logan's grudging description of Sirius and he glowered at her. Rolling his eyes and propping an arm on the back of his chair, he said, "Don't even try, Galloway. I saw you looking at him with those bedroom eyes of yours. So what's the problem?"

She groaned and rested her head on her arms, which were folded on the table. "The problem, Logan," Galloway gritted out, "is that it's against the stupid rules."

"So you do want to sleep with him," Logan said, his voice a weird mix of smug and like he thought she was an idiot.

Galloway sat back up and glared at him. "No!"

He raised an eyebrow and she dropped her head into her hands. "Yes," she admitted miserably.

"So just do it." Logan smirked. Then he shrugged. "Or just live with his pain in the ass self control problems and try to rein in yours."

Galloway sighed and decided to drop the argument since, apparently, no one but her remembered that Theron was looking for any excuse to skin her alive. She ran a hand through her hair and, unable to cut out the sarcasm, said, "Thanks Lo. Lots of help."

"I know," he said, smiling angelically at her.

"Can I just get the hex bag now?" She held her hand out and he pulled it and a scrap of paper from his pocket.

Placing the small bag in her hand, he said, "That's the activation-deactivation incantations on the paper. He shouldn't be able to sense it when it's deactivated and when it's not, he won't be able to sense you."

Logan smiled, pleased by that thought and she hugged him. 

"Thanks Logan," she mumbled against his chest as he hugged her back.

He petted her hair back and tilted her chin up to look at him. His eyes serious now, he said, "Be careful, Galloway. His claws aren't the only sharp things about him. And he's hiding just as much as you are."

She nodded and he pressed, "I'm not kidding, Galloway. He's dangerous."

"I know, Logan. God, I know," she sighed, walking toward the door. "But I'm stuck with him for now. Thanks again."

She drove back home, Logan's warning still ringing in her head.