Disclaimer: Nothing's changed. I still don't own Kuroshitsuji or Supernatural. *Sniffle*

Chapter One

Nikki groaned as she sat up, a headache pounding right behind her right eye. What exactly had happened last night? As she sat in the rather comfortable hotel bed trying to remember what happened, a very thin man in his mid twenties leaned against the doorframe. She looked up at him for a moment, and frowned.

"Who the hell are you?"

He chuckled. "Oh my. You don't remember, do you?"

She groaned and flopped back on the bed. That voice brought back everything. The fire, the key…the contract. Her eyes closed, and she flipped the blankets over her head. It had to be a very bad dream. She couldn't have possibly agreed to be a demon's eternal pet…right?

"Oh, you did, my dear. Although, right now I am simply your assistant."

"Is that all?" She responded faintly. "I died in a fire, and came out with a demon for an assistant."

He arched an eyebrow. "For now. Once the contract is complete, I do believe roles become somewhat reversed."

"I thought you said I wasn't going to be a slave."

"I did, and you won't be. I have no use for a slave, but the pets in Hell are…"

Nikki blinked. "You have pets in Hell?"

"Yes, but they're not like the things you're used to. I'd rather have a cat."

Nikki stared at him for a moment before giggling. Her demon assistant was a cat person. All things considered, it was kind of funny.

"I do believe we have work to do, Miss. Tryst."

"Mistress? I could get used to that." she said, still giggling as she got up. "Any chance you found anything out while I was sleeping off my hangover?"

He gave her a sidelong look. "That isn't what I said, and you know it. That also wasn't a headache. That was just a side affect of me placing the contract mark on your left eye. And, finally, yes. Since we're looking for a key to a gate to Hell, it stands to reason that we should look wherever there are supernatural happenings. Ten people have died in five days in a small town in North Dakota."

Nikki looked at her left eye in the mirror. Sebastian hadn't been kidding about the eye patch. If she went out with her eye looking like this she'd draw far too much attention. Then again, a girl walking around with an eye patch was bound to draw substantial attention, anyway.

"You got an eye patch, right? Walking around with this on my eye is probably going to cause problems."

Sebastian handed her a black leather eye patch. "Naturally, although I think you look better without it."

"Suck up," she snorted. "What did you find, again?"

The demon butler smiled, and swiveled the computer he was using so she could see it. "Ten Deaths in a five day period, two separate causes of death."

"This is going to be difficult to get used to. How did they die, again?"

"Well, five died from having their hearts ripped out. The other five committed suicide."

Nikki stared at the computer screen, willing her right eye to adjust to working on its own. Sebastian was watching her closely as she sat down and studied the articles he'd pulled up for her. If he expected her to be squeamish, he was right, but she wasn't going to let him see that. Hearts torn from their bodies? She'd never heard of anything like that except in horror stories, and historical accounts of human sacrifice. That just left the suicides. As she kept reading, Sebastian disappeared into the kitchenette, and scoffed at the "sad excuse for tea" that was stocked.

Suddenly, she stood up, gathered some things, and turned to Sebastian, who looked about ready to throw the tea out a window. Not that she'd complain, she'd never liked hot tea, but she was fairly certain that the hotel owners wouldn't appreciate a broken window as a review of their tea selection. It was almost adorable, really.

"Come on, Sebby. Let's go see what's going on in North Dakota…and please don't throw the tea out the window. People actually drink that."

He wrinkled his nose. "I can't imagine why. It's not as if it's that difficult to brew tea the right way."

"American's aren't as big on tea as the British," Nikki shrugged. "We drink coffee. Anyway, let's get a move on. If this case will lead to the key, then we should go before the trail goes cold."

Sam sighed irritably as Dean snored in the seat next to him. Admittedly, it had been relatively calm, all things considered, but seriously. The man sounded like a cheese grater on a cinderblock. Slowly, a small smirk began to play on the younger man's lips. It had been a while since he'd done this, after all, and everyone needed some fun once in a while. So, while his dear brother slept soundly in the passenger's side, Sam put a little ipecac syrup in his soda.

"Hey. Dean!" Sam nudged him awake. "Wake up. We're here."

Sam handed him the soda and watched as his brother took a large gulp, and looked up at the house surrounded by cop cars. True, the ipecac syrup would take a bit to take effect, but sometimes the best pranks were the ones that hit later. Especially if he was initiating a prank war, and let's be honest, that's exactly what he did.

"I guess we should see what's going on. Maybe it has something to do with the other ten deaths."

Dean shook his head. "Somebody loses a heart and the other bastards off themselves. Witches or demons?"

Sam shrugged. "Could be werewolves who can't come to terms with what they did."

"How often do we get that lucky?"

"Not often."

"Right. Let's put on the fed threads and see what's going on."

The two brothers slipped into a restroom and put on their suits, now looking like federal agents in cheap suits. As they were walking up to the house, they saw a young woman with an eye patch, and an inexplicably creepy young man talking to a relative of the victim. The woman was writing in a notepad, while the man idly looked about the exterior of the house, a look of distaste on his face. When she saw his face, she gave the family member of the victim a sympathetic look, and surreptitiously stepped on the man's foot.

"That is one creepy ass dude."

"We've seen a lot of creepy guys over the years, Dean."

Dean frowned. "Yeah…but there's something really…off about him."

"I know what you mean."

Putting their misgivings aside for the moment, the two brothers stepped up to where the three were talking. The girl turned to them, affecting a smile, while the guy watched passively from the side. Even up close the guy gave Dean a bad feeling, especially the smile. It looked genuine, but Dean couldn't help but feel like there was some kind of malice behind it.

"Sorry to take up your time, ma'am. It sounds like you've had a rough day. I'll be in touch if I can think of any questions." She turned to the two brothers. "I'll get out of your way now, Mulder, Scully. Have a good day."

With a click of her pen, she sauntered away, the man following her. Dean watched her walk away, his eyebrow arched, and a smile on his face, while Sam shook his head. They really had to get this done before the ipecac took effect. The last thing Sam wanted was Dean retching in the victim's toilet.

"Miss Daweson? I'm Agent Elliott, and this is Agent Savage. We're here to ask you about your son's death."

Elvira Daweson whimpered. "Oh, right. Come on in."

"If you don't mind me asking," Dean started. "Who were those two that you were talking to earlier?"

"Hm? Oh. That was Erin McNab and Ian Holmes. They're reporters."

"Uh huh. Well, Miss Daweson, I don't suggest speaking with the press for a while. They're really quite nosy."

"Oh, um…of course. Would you like some lemonade?"

Sam shook his head. "No, thank you. Can you tell us exactly how you found him?"

Tears welled up in Elvira's eyes. "He…he was in his room. All I did was go out to the movies, and then I stopped at the store. Ronnie and Aaron were always good friends. I…I just don't understand why…."

"I know it's hard, Miss Daweson, but I need you to tell me how you found him."

While Sam questioned Elvira, Dean walked up the stairs to the victim's bedroom, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline when he saw the massive pool of blood on the floor, and the splatters on the wall and ceiling. Whatever happened, it was certainly messy.

"I found him on his back. He…he looked shocked and terrified…and…and a hole in his chest where his heart should have been." Elvira let out a sob. "And poor Aaron! He was in my kitchen with his head almost off, and my butcher's knife in his hand!"

Sam handed her a tissue. "Did either Aaron or Ron exhibit any unusual behavior before the incident?"

"Not that I can think of."

"I need you to think. Anything. Even something small."

"Well…Aaron said he was going to some club over on Pine Street."

"Thank you, Miss Daweson. We'll keep in touch."

The two men walked to the car, and got in, both frowning. When Sam looked at Dean, he had to fight to keep the smirk from his face. Dean was starting to turn green, and looked a tad bit sick.

"What do you think?"

"I think we should question the other families. Look for a connection." Dean burped, and groaned.

Sam bit the inside of his cheek. "You okay?"

"I don't know. I think I might've eaten something funky." he paled. "Drive, Sammy."

"Sorry?"

"Either get me to the nearest john, or pull over!"

Sam smirked as he peeled away from the Daweson house with Dean groaning next to him. Sometimes simple was best.

Nikki looked down at the body of Ron Daweson, grimacing under the surgeon's mask. The boy's body was stained red, and it looked like someone had just punched a hole in his chest and pulled out his heart with their bare hands. Next to her, Sebastian was looking into the hole, totally unaffected, which wasn't surprising, but was very off-putting. With a gloved hand, he poked and prodded at the hole.

"So…you're telling me that Aaron stuck his hand in Ron's chest and pulled out his heart? What is this? Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom?"

Sebastian chuckled darkly. "While that was an interesting film, no. This doesn't seem to have any connection to it."

"Sarcasm, Sebby. I was being sarcastic." Nikki sighed. "Anyway, how could a fifteen year old boy break another boy's ribs, and yank out his heart while leaving that kind of a hole?"

He gave her a look. "Must you call me that? I don't have fond memories of that name."

"Well what else am I going to call you? Sebastian is both long and pretentious."

"Good think I happen to be pretentious, then, no?"

She snorted. "Creepy yes. Pretentious? No."

Sebastian gave her a very creepy smile that just screamed "Die. Die a thousand times", and turned back to the body.

Nikki returned to the coroner's report, a frown on her face. Part of her almost wanted it to be the result of a steroid induced rage, but the other part told her that it was something darker than drugs. As she scanned the page, she came across something odd.

"Hey, Sebastian. Says here they found a crystal in his room. One in Aaron's as well."

He cocked his head to the side. "Hm. That is interesting."

"It most certainly is. I'm Agent Elliott, we met briefly at the Daweson place."

Nikki turned to see a man standing in the doorway. He was freakishly tall, muscular, and actually rather handsome, now that she got a good look at him. Smiling, she held out her hand.

"Erin McNab, and that is my associate, Ian Holmes. We're with the paper."

Agent Elliott smiled and shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Did you say the report referenced a crystal? Does it say what kind?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure why it's relevant. The kids could have been geology nuts."

Sebastian was watching her closely, and she was watching Agent Elliott. He had walked up to the body, and was looking down at the hole, frowning. Whatever he saw, he didn't like, not that Nikki could blame him. Seeing anyone with a gaping hole in their body and a missing organ was kind of unpleasant.

There was something about him that felt off. One thing was sure, he was no federal agent. She'd seen several growing up, even dated one, and none of them wore cheap suits found in a thrift shop. Somebody else was nosing in on her case, and it bothered her.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Scully. Ian and I have to go. We haven't eaten all day, and I can hear his stomach from here." She handed him a card with her current number on it. "Give me a call if you find anything."

"I'll be sure to give you the exclusive, Miss McNab."

The agent returned to the body, and she and Ian left the morgue. Nikki let out a sigh as the sun hit her face, warming it. First the murder/suicides, then the crystal, now mysterious agents who aren't actually agents. What on earth had she gotten into?

"At least I don't have to worry about them arresting me."