The Deal I'm Making


And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places


When Blaine is fifteen and Cooper is barely twenty-one, Cooper makes a decision that will ultimately cost him his life.

Blaine begs him for weeks to chaperone the dance. He begs him, because Cooper is the only one (besides some of Blaine's friends from school) who knows he is gay, and the younger Anderson had planned on taking a boy to the Sadie Hawkins dance. What makes Blaine even more excited is that the boy had asked him, not the other way around. It seemed like things were finally falling into place for him, and the last thing he needed was for some jerk to screw it up for him. So he begs Cooper to chaperone the dance, but as much as the older Anderson wants to, he declines.

It just so happens that Cooper has an audition for a television show in California that same weekend, and it is his big break. And though Blaine is disappointed, he understands. So before Cooper leaves, he gives his little brother a pep talk about not letting other people push him around. Even that Thursday afternoon before he leaves, Cooper takes Blaine into the back yard and teaches him some simple fighting techniques, just in case. (Though he assures Blaine that as long as he doesn't wander off alone, he won't have to use them.)

So with a heavy heart, because he really does want to be there to protect his baby brother, Cooper heads off to California early Friday morning.

Saturday night, he receives the worst call of his life.

He's sitting alone in his hotel room around ten or so, going over his audition from earlier that day in his head when his phone rings. He glances at the caller ID and when he sees that it's his mother and he wonders for a second why she would be calling so late before he answers. "If you're wondering how I did, let's just say that the part is as good as mine," Cooper half jokes into the phone instead of saying a normal hello.

"Cooper," His mom's voice wavers as she speaks his name and he immediately sits up.

Something isn't right.

"Mom?" He asks, "Is everything okay?"

"I…" She starts, her voice cracking. There's a long pause, and it feels like the longest pause of his life before she finishes with, "No."

"What happened?" He rushes out, his thoughts immediately going to Blaine – his baby brother that he loves dearly and should have been protecting. He shakes the thought from his head though because there's no way that Blaine could be hurt. Those kinds of things don't happen to people like you. He's okay.

"It's Blaine," She breaths, confirming his fears, though, and he immediately feels his heart sink. He feels like dying. In fact, he wishes he were dead. Anything would be better than listening to his mom explain to him that something happened at the dance. Before she even has a chance to tell him what exactly happened, he's muttering out I'm on my way and throwing his clothes carelessly into his suitcase and is out the door.

As if things couldn't get worse, the sight at the hospital is terrible.

When Cooper walks through the emergency doors only a few hours later, he spots his family almost instantly. His mother and father are sitting on the far side of the room, and his mom is a wreck. She's slumped into his father's lap, and Cooper is sure that she was crying before and is now spent. Her body is still, he face hidden, but his father is still stroking her hair softly. And his father. The second Cooper realizes how bad it really is, is when he sees his father's face. His eyes are red from crying, his hair disheveled and Cooper realizes that he's never seen his father cry. Not once.

There's a couple other family members scattered around the waiting room – grandparents and aunts and uncles – but Cooper goes straight to his father. "Is he…" Cooper starts, trying not to say okay cause it's apparent that he's not.

"Just got out of surgery a bit ago," His father replies softly, "They had to stop some internal bleeding and remove his spleen…"

"Jesus…" Cooper breaths, "But he's going to be okay… Right?"

"I… I don't know, Cooper," His father returns, "We'll just have to wait." Cooper frantically shakes his head no in response, and starts heading toward the nearest doors to where he hopes Blaine is. "Cooper, wait!" His father calls, standing and waking his mother.

"No," Cooper breaths, "I need to see him." And despite the nurse trying to stop him, he pushes the doors open and heads down the hallway, searching each room's window frantically for a sign of his brother. He ignores the nurses and doctors trying to stop him, ignores the many sir, please stop, you can't be in here's that he gets, and keeps walking. He keeps walking until he sees a curly headed boy in a nearby room, looking bloody and beaten. If he had it his way, he would burst in the door, but he is stopped by his father's arms around his waist.

"Stop!" His dad bellows, "Stop it, Cooper!"

"I need to see him," Cooper just repeats mindlessly, tears now streaming down his face, and struggles hopelessly under his father's grasp.

"Stop, please," The older man begs, and after another minute of struggling, Cooper numbly gives up. With one last glace at the room, he allows his father and a nurse to escort him back to the lobby.


It's a few days later, when Cooper finally asks the question that everyone has been dying to ask, but hasn't been brave enough to say.

"When is he going to wake up?" Cooper's words pierce the silence as the doctor finishes explaining Blaine's progress to them. While progress is great and all, and Cooper is glad that the surgery went fine and there were no complications, Blaine has been unconscious for almost three days. All Cooper wants is to be able to talk to his brother again – to be able to hug him and kiss him and tell him he's sorry that he wasn't there.

"Well…" The doctor starts, glancing over the curious eyes that fill the waiting room. He clears his throat, "It's difficult to tell in cases like your brother's. With head trauma like he has, it could be a matter of hours, or weeks or…"

Never, Cooper finishes the thought when he trails off.

"He's lucky to be alive," The doctor continues, trying to lighten the mood. It doesn't help.

Blaine isn't alive. He's a vegetable.

At that, Cooper stands and leaves the room in favor of going outside. He feels like he's going to be sick.


After another two weeks, he basically gives up. He gets a call back from California, letting him know that he got the part that he auditioned for, but he never returns it. He doesn't care. All he wants is for Blaine to get better.

He mopes around the house while his family isn't at the hospital, spending most of his time in Blaine's room. He sits on his bed at night after his parents have gone to sleep and tries not to think of what would have happened had he not bailed on the dance.

Things change one Friday night, though.

Cooper is at the bar – some shitty tiny place on the outskirts of town – sitting alone like he usually does, and staring at his half drank beer, trying his hardest not to think about Blaine.

"You look down," A woman's voice purrs in his ear.

He turns slightly to find himself staring at a beautiful young woman with long, dark hair. She's got a slight smirk on her face and striking hazel eyes, and as Cooper's eyes travel down her body, he quickly notices how she practically oozes with confidence. He tears his eyes away from her, though, and continues staring at his unfinished beer, hoping she'll leave him alone. The last thing he needs is some girl trying to hit on him. He needs Blaine.

"Wow," The girl says in mock surprise, "Cranky."

Cooper doesn't apologize, instead just shakes his head, and she takes that as a cue to keep talking.

"You know, a gentleman would ask me to join him," She says a little sharply, "Or at least buy me a drink…"

"I guess I'm not a gentleman, then," Cooper shoots back, somewhat frustrated. It's out of character for him to be so rude, but he can't help it. Not tonight.

She takes it as an invitation to sit, for some reason, and gets cozy next to Cooper, ordering a drink for herself. "Cooper Anderson," She says softly swirling her finger around the rim of her glass and causing his head to practically spin around in her direction. She smirks, "Oh, you think I didn't know who you were? Give me a little credit. I've heard a lot about you, Cooper." At that, Cooper swears that he sees her eyes flash red, but when he blinks, it's gone.

You're going crazy.

"How do you know me?" He asks, suddenly frightened – though he shouldn't be – by the girl next to him, "Who are you?"

"Who I am isn't important," She shoots back, smiling slightly.

"Then what do you want from me?" He asks, "I'm not really in the mood for this shit."

"Oh yeah… I forgot. Baby brother's still on the verge of dying, right?" Her words are like venom.

If she weren't a girl, Cooper would have her slammed up against the wall by now. Instead, his knuckles are turning white with the way that he's gripping the bar he stares at her and hisses, "Don't you dare bring up my brother."

She sighs, as if she's getting bored with the conversation, "Look, it's not what I want from you… it's what you want from me, Cooper."

"What?" He asks, confused as to how she had managed to turn the conversation around on him.

She shrugs, "I can help you."

"Bullshit," He immediately shoots back, still glaring at her.

"Whatever," She replies coolly, "Don't say I didn't try." And at that, she's standing and walking away from the bar, drink unfinished and unpaid for. Cooper sits in her wake, head still reeling from what just happened.

Who the fuck was that girl?

Though part of him wants to follow her just to yell at her and tell her to shut the fuck up, another half of him wants to know what she meant when she said I can help you. He's not sure what part of him it is that makes him stand only a minute after she walks out the door, throw some cash on the bar, and make his way outside after her.

When he throws the front door of the bar open, though, he can't help the sudden feeling of disappointment that washes over him when there is nobody in the parking lot. Though he wasn't sure what he was going to say to her, he wanted to find that girl. Some unknown part of him felt like it needed to talk to her.

"Hey handsome."

Cooper spins on his heel at the voice to find the girl, smirk still spread across her face, leaning on the side of the building.

Weird. Nobody was there a second ago.

"Just couldn't resist me, could you?" She asks, taking a step forward.

"I don't-" Cooper stutters as she makes her way toward him, trying to find the right words to say, "What did you mean back there? When you said you could help me?"

"God, you people are always so desperate," She mutters under her breath, then smiles at him, as if she hadn't just said it, "What if I told you that you could have whatever you want? That I could give it to you?"

Cooper lets out a small nervous laugh, "I'd call you crazy."

And at that, the girl blinks, and when her eyes open, they're the same red that Cooper had seen in the bar. Only it doesn't go away this time. It stays. It not a trick of the neon lights of the bar – her eyes are red. "Would you?" She asks, still smirking slightly as she struts up to Cooper, closing the large gap between them.

"Who – what are you?" Cooper stutters, taking a step backward, suddenly terrified.

She shrugs, "Just someone who wants to help."

"Bull," Cooper calls, taking another step back, "What do you want?"

She sighs at that, blinking her eyes and letting them go back to the pretty hazel that they were before. "Nothing gets by you, does it, Cooper?" He straightens his posture and trying to act tough, even though he's kind of freaking out a little on the inside because he's either going crazy from lack of sleep or this girl's eyes just turned red like something out of a horror movie. "Well you're not going crazy," She says, reading his mind, "And I guess you're onto something with the whole horror movie idea…"

"You… you can…" Cooper trails off because now he really thinks he's going crazy.

"Read your mind? Sure," She grins, "It's just a little perk that comes along with the whole demon thing."

"Demon," Cooper repeats, "Great, I really am going insane."

"Far from it," She counters, taking a couple of steps forward and closing the gap between them again, "Normally I don't tell you guys about the whole demon part… I just wait for you to get drunk enough to believe me when I say I can give you anything you want. But you, you're different. You're a smart cookie, Cooper. Besides, I can't say no to that pretty face."

"Demon," He repeats again, "And you want to help me?"

"Nothing gets past you," She teases, smiling still, "Yes, I want to help you. After all, you want your baby brother back, right?"

"I told you not to mention Blaine," Cooper says through gritted teeth, her words hitting a soft spot again.

"Why not? He's all that's been on your mind all night. When will Blaine get better? What if Blaine doesn't make it? I let Blaine down," She mocks him, "Feeling a little guilty about something?"

"Shut the fuck up," He hisses, "You don't know anything about me. Or my brother."

Then the girl laughs – she actually fucking laughs, and continues circling Cooper, "Oh but that's where you're wrong, Cooper. I know everything about you and your brother. How you left him all alone to get beaten by those kids. How you feel guilty because you were supposed to be there…" Then she stops, smiling for a moment before continuing, "How you were actually jealous of the boy he took to the dance. How you're hopelessly in love with your brother and you're terrified that you'll never get to tell him-"

She's cut off by Cooper taking an unexpected step forward and gripping the collar of her leather coat in his hand, "Shut the fuck up."

"Oh you didn't think I knew that part?" She just shoots back, despite his menacing look, "Like I said, I know everything."

At that, Cooper lets go, his body going numb with her words. "What do you want from me?"

"I already told you," She replies, brushing herself off, "I want to help you. I can get Blaine back for you. Give him back to you."

"And why would you do that?" Cooper asks, skeptical.

"I could give a shit less if you're fucking your brother," She teases, "I mean, hello, look at me. I just simply want to help."

Cooper eyes her warily, trying to see through her lie. There has to be something she wants in return. "And what's in it for you?" He asks, unable to believe that he's having a sane conversation with her. If he were any other person, he would have high tailed it out of there when he saw her eyes turn red for the first time. Any normal person would have laughed when she said demon, but for some reason, Cooper finds himself still standing in the parking lot, staring at the pretty girl in front of him and actually believing her.

"Oh, you caught me there," She says, stalking up to him. Cooper freezes on the spot as she approaches him, and takes in a sharp breath when she puts an arm around his waist, pulling him close. "Ten years," She whispers in his ear, "You get ten long years with baby brother, and then I get you."

"You get me?" He asks incredulously, "What does that mean?"

"It means you get ten years to live, and then I get your soul, Cooper," She whispers back, pulling away to see the look in his eyes when she says it, "Aww, now don't look so worried. You get ten years with Blaine. That's much more than you're about to get now. It's a pretty good deal, if you ask me."

"I – I don't know," He finally mutters out, looking down to avoid her eyes.

"Fine," She replies shortly, instantly pulling away from him and straightening herself out, "Suit yourself. I tried to help you. Don't come crying to me when he doesn't wake up."

At that, she turns on her heel and begins to walk away into the parking lot. And though Cooper is sure that he's going insane – though he's sure that there's no such thing as demons – he can't help but call out to her. "Wait!"

When she turns around, she can't hide the small smile playing on her lips, "Yes?"

"Can… Can I think about it?"

"You know, this is sort of a once in a lifetime offer," She replies, making her way back toward him, "But… I can't resist that sad little face of yours. You have two days. My offer still stands for two days."


Cooper walks in the front door that night with shaky hands, and is glad that his parents are either asleep or still at the hospital when he makes his way up to his room. The second the bedroom door is shut behind him, he's sliding down the wood and onto the floor, threading his fingers through his hair and trying to sort things out in his head. Trying to make sense of everything.

His conversation with the mysterious girl runs through his head again and again as he tries to come up with some logical explanation for it, but he can't think of anything. Instead, all he can hear in the back of his head is demon demon demon, she's a demon and she wants your soul, and he can't help but feel crazy. Absolutely crazy. Because demons aren't supposed to be real.

Yet, when Cooper finally finds his way to his bed that night, all he can see when he closes his eyes are a pair of red ones staring right back at him. And he can't deny that what he saw was real.

He stays in his room the entirety of the next day, laying in bed and trying to make sense of things. He can't bring himself to visit Blaine.

Cooper finds himself at the hospital the day after, though, with his family, and things are exactly the same. He can't bring himself to look at Blaine's still body laying in the hospital bed, knowing that there may be something he can do to save him, and he can't bring himself to hug his own mother when she starts sobbing again as the doctor repeats we don't know if he'll wake up.

She was right. He's not going to wake up.

"You have to do something," His mother chokes out, wiping her eyes with her sleeves, "Please. Anything."

The doctor can't even bring himself to look her in the eyes when he repeats, "We've tried everything. There's nothing we can do," again.

And that just about does it for Cooper.

After her outburst, Cooper's father leads his mother out of the room, leaving him alone with Blaine and his thoughts. He lets himself stare – for the first time in two days – at his brother's still form, and can't help the pang of guilt he feels when he realizes that he can do something, even if the doctors can't. He suddenly can't bear being in the room alone anymore, knowing that it's his fault that Blaine got hut and only he can fix it. With one last look in his little brother's direction, he stands from his chair in the corner of the room and makes his way toward the door.

He knows it's stupid and crazy, but just minutes after his parents exit the room, Cooper finds himself walking toward the front doors of the hospital.

"Cooper," His father calls when he sees him leaving, "Where are you going?"

Cooper swallows the lump in his throat before speaking, "Out. I'll be back in a bit." And without so much as a glance in his father's direction, he's walking out the front doors of the hospital and into the cool fall air.

The drive to the small bar is silent and seems to go on forever. Cooper's heart is pounding in his chest when he finally pulls into the parking lot, and though he still feels like he's crazy for believing the girl, he swallows the lump in his throat and tries to tell himself that he's doing the right thing.

He isn't even halfway through the parking lot, making his way to the bar, when someone startles him.

"Looking for someone?"

Her voice rings out over the mostly empty parking lot, and Cooper spins on his heel, searching for the source of the voice. And it takes a minute, but then he sees her, standing out on the dirt road, smirking in his direction. Cooper feels his stomach drop because she definitely wasn't there a minute ago, but he ignores it and starts to make his way toward the woman.

"I see you've come around, Cooper," She teases when he gets close enough to talk. And when he doesn't say anything in response, she just smirks, "And I see you're still playing the whole silent but dangerous card."

"I thought about it," Cooper finally says, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And…" She says smiling, "I'm sure you didn't come all this way to tell me no, but I'm assuming this is a deal?"

"Blaine will be better?" Cooper asks, still somewhat unsure. Still somewhat terrified.

"Good as new," She affirms, "And you'll get ten long years with your healthy, beautiful baby brother."

A thought crosses his mind, but he pushes it down as soon as it appears. Apparently not fast enough for her to miss, though.

"You know I can only give you one thing, right?" She asks, looking at him carefully, "I may be able to wake him up, but if you want baby brother to fall in love with you… Well, you're going to have to work that one out on your own."

"I know," He mutters.

"So…"

"Okay," Cooper says quietly, keeping eye contact with her and waiting for her eyes to go red again, "I'm in. What do we do?"

"Nothing," She replies, taking a step forward, "We just need to seal the deal." And at that, her eyes flash red and she reaches forward, pulling their lips together in a searing kiss.

It only lasts a couple of seconds. Her lips are there, hot and wet and heavy, and then they're gone. She flashes a breathless Cooper a smile before speaking up again.

"Might want to get to the hospital."

Within seconds, Cooper is running – full on sprinting to his car – and peeling out of the parking lot, heart racing. And a pair of red eyes watch him as he takes off toward town.

He gets to the hospital in record time, forgets to lock his car up, and slams the doors of hospital open, earning a few odd glances from some nurses. His parents are still there, sitting in the waiting room like they had been when he left, and that worries him. If Blaine were up, they'd be there. So he passes them quickly and makes his way to Blaine's room, feeling sick to his stomach.

When he gets there, though, Blaine is still lying in his bed, motionless. Asleep.

Within seconds, he goes from nervous, anxious and excited to devastated and frustrated and disappointed. He sighs out, hands coming up and fingers running through his hair, panicked.

She lied. She lied. He's not awake. She lied. She-

Something out of the corner of Cooper's eye catches his attention and he doesn't know whether to be surprised or furious when he sees that girl – demon – standing next to him, arms crossed.

"You didn't think I'd make you miss the best part, did you?" She asks, breaking the silence before he has the chance to say anything. She then nods toward Blaine's bed, and Cooper's heart practically stops because-

Because he can see Blaine's sharp intake of breath. He can see his eyelids flutter open. He can hear the machines in the room going crazy. And he's about to step toward the bed – toward Blaine – when doctors come rushing in and push him to the side. He doesn't care though. He doesn't care when he's kicked out of the room and is left standing alone in the hall with the demon. He doesn't care because Blaine is up. He's alive and he's awake and that's all that matters.

"Thank you," He whispers out, turning to look at the girl next to him. He shouldn't be thanking her. His clock is already ticking. She didn't do him a favor. He had to pay the price. But regardless, Blaine is there and that's all that matters.

"See you in ten years, Cooper," She says softly, almost like she doesn't want to, and then she's gone.


AN: I haven't written Cooplaine in forever, but this fic is my baby. So be gentle.
There IS a little bit of SPN influences in this (obviously, with the crossroads demon and whatnot) and the last couple of chapters are a bit of a Supernatural crossover.

This chapter's title is from the song "Running Up That Hill" by Placebo
The fic's chapter is inspired by "Lego House" by Ed Sheeran.