So, here comes story number one. Not like the number one story but my first story on her because hey, I'm not that good. I love Puck and Sabrina so much that I created an alternate universe where I could play with their feelings. Mwahahaha.

Sabrina: You think that laugh makes you cool. It doesn't.

Me: ….and on with the disclaimer…

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sisters Grimm. Buuuut I do own this story so back off. And technically speaking, I own the alternate universe versions of the characters. That means you Sabrina.

Sabrina: I hate you.

Ch.1: A Deal With The Devil

I had just walked into the bar and I was already uneasy.

The lights were dim, the entire room smelled of some form of alcohol, and I had already spotted five unconscious bodies beaten to a pulp. Overall, a very nice place.

But it was too late to back out now, and besides, this was my last chance. Every mercenary or 'under-cover agent' or expert tracker had been completely inadequate in finding my parents. But they had all shared one thing- give them enough money and they'd point you to the best in the field they knew, someone who might actually be of any use to me. That one person was always the same.

Deadnight.

I'd heard rumors of him as soon as I'd started my little solo expedition. Stories of people he'd killed, people he'd saved, people who hated him. People who labeled him a raving lunatic.

Well, everyone had labeled him a raving lunatic. But this raving lunatic was my last hope, so I just had to suck it up for now if I ever wanted to have a family again.

The only good thing about the bar was that it was warm, an amazing contrast from the harsh winds and burning cold outside. I immediately took off my gloves and scurried over to the fireplace in the corner, hoping to attract as little attention as possible.

I would wait. I would sit there by the flames and wait for Deadnight, who supposedly arrived every night at ten for dinner when he didn't have a current mission. And my sources said he didn't have one. So I should've been good to go.

Only waiting in a sketchy Everafter bar in the middle of New York was not as fun as it might sound. It wasn't long in before I felt the glances shooting towards me, the eyes trained on me, making me uncomfortable. If they recognized me as a Grimm, I was dead.

For your information, lots of Everafters hated Grimms. Detested them. Apparently a long time ago we tried to contain them with some magical bubble in this city called Ferryport, but they managed to break out. The Grimms have been able to keep them from showing themselves to humans for the past decades, to protect the world from war, but not without a price. While lots loved us and we helped even more settle into a human ruled world, we became the common enemy of a lot of Everafters. And word had been spreading recently of uprisings too, revolutions against us and the humans.

Not good.

If the people here discovered who I was, I'd be toast.

I tried to stay calm, breathing deeply, looking as intimidating as possible with my knife and combat boots, but I still jumped when a man suddenly sat down beside me.

He smelled like beer, enough that I had to resist recoiling, and he was far too close for comfort, narrowing his eyes skeptically, mouth open slightly as he tried to think.

"Can I help you?" I asked the drunk carefully.

He grinned a toothless grin. "See, me and ma buddies over der were just wonderin' what a pretty girl like you is doin' in here?"

I shrugged casually. "My father is in the shop nearby, told me to wait in here so I didn't get cold."

Lie.

He raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. And is dat also why we don't recognize ya? We know everyone that comes in and out of dese bars missy, everyone 'xcept you."

"Well, I don't usually make it a pastime of mine to stop at bars-"

"And we also know most of da Everafters that live in dese parts, and none of dem are cute lil' blondes like you. So tell me, sweetie," he grabbed my wrist and gave me a wicked grin, "who you are and what you're actually doin' here. 'Cus I bet my bottom dollar you ain't an Everafter."

I fumbled for words, his bony hand a painful presence on my wrist, my heart beating too fast because it had been literally minutes and they had pretty much figured it out already. He knew it too, because his grin stretched, revealing gaps where teeth should have been, brown stubs where teeth still were.

The only thing I could think was that I had been a desperate idiot to come here.

And then there was a flash of silver and the man was screaming and I pulled back instinctively, breath hitching as I saw it. A knife, stabbed into his hand, the hand he had just been holding me with. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out another scream, backing away from me, cradling his hand against his chest with his other hand.

My wide eyes turned and there he was, in a skintight red and black outfit, adorned with a belt of pouches and two long knives strapped to his back. His mask was still on, covering his entire head, two white ovals where his eyes were hidden. No skin was to be seen, and to my eyes, he almost didn't seem human.

I had seen enough pictures and heard enough descriptions to know who it was. Deadnight.

"Oh, fancy meeting you here Charlie!" he said cheerfully as he sat down beside the still screaming man, patting him forcefully on the back.

Charlie looked up, expression a mixture of murder and agony. "Get it out! You sick bastard get it out!"

Deadnight tut-tutted, shaking his head. "That's not a very nice way of greeting me. And to think I made you cake yesterday."

"It was poisoned!" the man spit out between teeth gritted in pain, face contorting. It was painful to watch, but I couldn't look away.

"Everyone's a critic," Deadnight muttered. "But you see, here's the deal. You hurt my client. I hurt you. It's like a circle of life. Have you ever seen that movie? Lion King?"

He proceeded to sing Circle of Life to the man, who now had tears of pain leaking out of his eyes. I considered myself in the 'tough girls' category, but sitting there watching a man suffer didn't make me tough, it made me heartless.

"Pull it out," I said firmly.

The man stopped screaming long enough to fix me with an incredulous look. Deadnight's head roved to me and behind that mask, I wondered if he was shocked too.

"Excuse me honey, but this isn't any of your business," he said flatly.

"Yes it is. He was talking to me. So it became my business."

"That's not how it works. Rule number 87 clearly states that I can do whatever I want to anyone who interferes with my work and no one can stop me because it is my work and therefore my business."

"I don't care about rules. What you're doing is wrong and I'm telling you to stop."

Deadnight snorted loudly, gesturing to me vaguely. "Can you believe the nerve of this girl? Does she know who I am?" he said disbelievingly to Charlie.

"Please," he whimpered.

"Pull it out. Now."

Deadnight looked from me to Charlie and back to me, then to the knife in Charlie's hand. "Oh fine, ruin my fun then," he pouted, grabbing the hilt of the knife and yanking it out. Charlie screamed again, pulling his hand to his chest, and shooting Deadnight a horrible glare.

"Someday kid, you'll pay," he growled.

"Thanks for the info, I'll just store that away somewhere," Deadnight murmured off-handedly.

Charlie gave him another look of death before staggering out of the building, no doubt to some sort of hospital or something, Deadnight calling "Say hello to Barbara and the kids!" after him.

Now that the man was gone Deadnight's attention was on me. Which was probably not good, because even though I was playing 'stern commanding girl' a second ago, I was already wary of this guy. I could still see the knife soaring through the air and impaling Charlie's hand. Deadnight waltzing up without a care in the world. People said he killed for fun, which I didn't believe, but I wasn't having any trouble with that now.

I needed him though, so I was put in the tough position of hating to ask a monster like him for help or never seeing my parents again. But there was never a doubt in my mind of how far I'd go for my family.

"So, blondie, what makes you think you can storm in here and metaphorically rain on my parade of awesome?" he asked casually, propping his feet up on the table nearby where a couple was eating. Instead of glaring they just sort of scampered away. "Thanks guys!" Deadnight cooed happily.

I ignored his air of nonchalance and took a deep breath. "Well, two months ago my parents disappeared."

Before I could continue, he made a loud noise of disgust. "Boring," he groaned.

I glared at him. "This is my family's life at stake. It's not boring."

"It kinda is. But whatever, I'll let you continue. Consider it my good deed for the day. Because I care so much about good deeds." He winked obnoxiously and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I didn't know how far I could go without setting him off. I wanted to appear confident, even though my heart was shaking like a Chihuahua, because the last thing I needed was for him to think I was some fragile thing that could be manipulated with a snap of his fingers. Because I wasn't (or at least hoped I wasn't). But then again, I didn't want to appear cocky and end up with a knife in my hand too. I had been warned to be careful around him, that he had a notorious temper and usually just killed those who set it off.

I tried to ignore this though and just continued. "As I was saying, two months ago my parents disappeared. Their car was found abandoned with no trace of struggle, only a red handprint on the windshield. The police searched as best they could, but no bodies or footprints or anything was found anywhere near the car.

"I've hired detectives, hunters, pretty much everyone and they've all come up with nothing. And so I came to you because apparently this is what you're best at."

He shrugged. "One of the many things I'm best at. I can also play a mean piccolo, if you want to hear it sometime."

I tried to keep an air of professionalism, although it was pretty hard. "No, thank you. I want to find my parents. I want to know who kidnapped them. I want to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."

"And I want a grilled cheese sandwich," he said thoughtfully, pulling a dagger out of nowhere and throwing it so it stuck into the wall right beside the bartenders head. He jumped fearfully and faced Deadnight. "What is it sir?"

"Grilled cheese. Pronto."

"But sir, we don't make grilled cheese," the man said shakily.

Deadnight leaned forward dangerously, and although he was a good twenty meters from the man, the tension was tangible. "I said grilled cheese."

"Y-yes sir."

The man scurried off and Deadnight clapped his hands together, turning back to me. I tried not to look too shaken and just stared into the empty white ovals. "Ok, sounds pretty easy, but I need to know a sum. Dollar amount. I work for money and revenge alone. But mostly money. Lots of money."

I had also been told that Deadnight had a crazy obsession with money, and was filthy rich with it. He was the best at what he did, so it was no surprise people went to him with huge amounts of coins and gems and all other valuable things. I turned out to be no different.

I reached into the folds of my huge jacket and pulled out a large, gray sack, placing it on the table. I could feel his eyes watching me as I casually undid the knot fastening it, revealing golden coins filled to the rim.

"Ooh, yummy yummy yummy," he purred, reaching for the bag. I pulled it away before he could.

"Excuse me?" he said dubiously.

"First you get me my parents. Then you get your money."

I could practically see his frown under the mask. "This is the part where me and my knives kindly remind you that we make the rules here, not you, girly. Rule number 302, never let the client become the master."

I shrugged. "I guess you don't want the money then," I taunted. It was a tough play. He could easily just kill me and take the money. If I were in his shoes, it's probably what I would've done. But people told me Deadnight enjoyed his job, reveled in doing it, in being the best, and so maybe he would get past my little money trick because he actually wanted to kill some people and find my parents.

I also heard he had a tremendous ego, so I pulled the pride card too. "And I furthermore guess you weren't as good as all those people made you out to be. How disappointing."

I made to stand up and walk away, but suddenly his hand was on mine, and it was strange because this being that was so cruel and so inhumane was just a normal body with a normal hand. I could even feel his pulse through the tight fabric covering his entire body.

"Fine fine, I'll play by your rules blondie. Consider yourself lucky I didn't skewer you instead. The idea was very tempting."

"I'm sure it was. But I'm also sure this means more to you," I said, brandishing the sack of money again before tying it up and putting it back in my jacket.

"Money. It is a weakness with me but to be fair, it is my only weakness."

I didn't respond, instead fixing him with a steely look. "When can you start?"

He leaned back, propping his head up with his hands. "Tomorrow morning. Meet me at my house and you can give me the details and locations and stuff from there. Got it?"

"I don't know where you live."

"Uh. Lame. I'll send my assistant to find you then and bring you to me."

"Assistant?"

"Yeah, she's nice. Makes my food. Cleans my clothes. Almost killed her once for looking at my money though. Risky little thing. But she keeps the house straight and she owes me her life because I killed her evil father so all's good."

I nodded slowly. "Ok. But she better be there. I don't think you understand how important this is to me."

"I doubt I would. Sentiment. Never did get how it worked."

I fixed him with a stare intense enough to get my message across. He was my last hope. My only hope. As much as I hated needing to stoop as low as accepting help from a monster like him, I'd do it as many times as I needed to if it meant getting my parents back. And if I couldn't get them back… I didn't know how I'd go on. How me, or my sister and brother staying at our grandmother's, would go on.

So, in the most confident and serious voice I could muster while still scared out of my mind because I was literally making a deal with the devil, I said, "Try to."

Before I could leave though, he grabbed my forearm, pinning it to the ledge near the fireplace and stopping me from walking away. He leaned his mask covered face close to mine, close enough that I was sure he could hear my heartbeat running wild in my chest. I had crossed the line. I was going to be killed.

"I don't know who you think you are, girly, coming in here and trying to act all macho and tough. But listen now, I will kill you in the blink of an eye if I have to. And I won't even care. I'll sleep like a baby. If you think you can order me around like your pet, talk sass to me, then you're wrong. You make one false move, say one thing I'm not sure I like, and boom." He used his other hand to motion shooting himself in the head. "You're gone. I don't have a conscious. I don't need to rescue your beloved parents. If I wanted to, I could kill you here and take the money from your cold, dead corpse. But I won't. Not yet. Because your little plea is interesting enough for me, and I'll let this one slide. But remember, I'm in charge. This is my game. You need me, but I could care less about you."

He let go of my arm, face still inches from mine. "Remember that. It might save your life."

Then the withheld anger was gone, the tension, the feeling that I was about to die, because he leaned back again and started whistling some catchy song. "That's all I have to say! See you tomorrow blondie! And don't lose my money."

I had to blink and literally swallow the panic rising in my chest before I could nod and start walking again, visions of a knife stuck in my head filling my mind. I heard him shout, "Yo Bernie! Where's my grilled cheese?" before I opened the door and was out in the freezing snowstorm again.

For a few moments I just stood there, breathing deeply, letting the heart-wrenching fear slowly subside. He had agreed to my deal. It had been close, but he had. And now only came one more thing- finding my parents. If he couldn't do it, then nobody could, or at least that's what everyone told me. I let out a shaky breath, watching it fog in the cold air, closing my eyes and trying not to think about the stress stacked up on my shoulders.

I was alone. Daphne and Basil were with Granny Relda, Daphne in a quiet, depressive emptiness that I couldn't watch without crying and Basil confused, constantly asking where mommy and daddy were. Granny Relda fumbling around in a lost manner because Henry was her son and she loved Veronica like a daughter, and she had lost them both in one night.

My family was broken. And it was up to me to fix them.

And I had just put all of our lives in the hands of a psychotic maniac.

Hopefully this all turned out better than I felt that it would.

First chapter complete! *insert obnoxious party horns*

Ok, so there he is. Deadnight. AKA you know who.

We'll see some more of him next chapter, and another character we all know and love(hate).

Well, I have a weird soft spot for said character, so bear with me.

Until next chapter!

-anniepear