Chapter 2 – Ender's Game
Some things about human existence were so tiresome. Things like waiting in line at a coffee shop to order a relatively foul-tasting beverage that it was apparently expected to drink…and to obtain said beverages for the stinking meat-suits that passed for its co-workers.
Nonetheless, the demon waited, imagining all of the horrific things it could do to these humans in a blink of an eye, which made it feel marginally better, but it also knew it couldn't risk it. Killing the Mossad officer had been a risk –an enjoyable one, but a risk nevertheless- and it couldn't afford to take too many more. No sense in drawing unnecessary attention to itself from demons, hunters, or angels.
When it reached the counter it was handed a tray of drinks and a white paper bag. Slightly startled by the excess, it wondered if it had made a mistake.
"Are you sure this is my order?"
"Yep. Someone called in an addition."
The demon felt a surge of irritation. It pondered what additions it could make to Tony's order, since it was fairly sure the senior agent had been the one to call in the extra, and turned to head to the exit. It noticed an attractive red-head watching and paused, curious as to what had attracted her attention.
"Need some help?"
Flirting. Interesting. It knew that wasn't something this human experienced much.
"I've got it, thanks. I'm a trained professional," it replied before the bag it had balanced on the tray succumbed to gravity and hit the floor.
"Yeah, I can tell." She picked up the bag and set it on the tray. The demon studied her expression and smiled to itself as it read something beneath the sweet, flirty gaze.
Not as innocent as you appear, are you? Now what do you want with this meat-suit?
At the moment the phone in its pocket rang and it decided to see how far it could carry the shy, stumbling, geek persona.
"I have a ring in my pocket…"
"A ring?"
"Phone, sorry. Could you…?"
She carefully reached into the pocket and extracted the phone, taking more time than was probably necessary, and held it so the demon could answer. After assuring Tony that his order had been taken care of, the demon nodded and she end the call before slipping the phone back in his pocket.
"I'm Amanda."
No, you're not. "I'm Tim. Do you live around here, or…" Still playing the game, it got her to add her phone number to the phone, with the promise of a call sometime.
As it left the coffee shop, the demon smiled. This little game the female human was playing had piqued its interest.
Don't hurt her…please.
The demon almost laughed out loud.
Are you really that naïve?
What?
She's playing us. Not at all what she seems, that one. Aren't you curious to see what she really wants?
She…was being nice.
The demon shook its head. How exactly have you even survived this long? Tell you what, we'll let this little game play out and you'll see that I'm right. We demons don't lie about everything, you know.
There was no response from its host, so the demon continued on its way, happy to have something to occupy its attention, at least for the time being.
The demon did its job…well, the job of the human it was inhabiting, and waited to see what the woman would do. It did call to arrange a meeting and played the part of the young man who was happy to have the attention of a beautiful woman, but it never gave the woman the information it could tell she wanted. When she arrived at the bullpen late one night, it knew she had tipped her hand, and it enjoyed the prospect of showing her the error of her ways the following morning.
It waited outside the designated coffee shop for 'Amanda' to arrive, pacing to show the causal onlookers that it was not just there for its own amusement. When she did show, it was amused to discover that she didn't realize her mistake. It started explaining what "wasn't right" and waited for the fallout.
"Where's Kai?"
Ah, there it is.
"Kai? The one you've been trying to get me to lead you to since this whole little charade began?" It whispered in her ear and she looked up into its eyes in surprise.
"You knew? How?" she asked, reaching for her gun.
It smiled. "You're not the only one who isn't what they seem." It allowed its eyes to flash black, just for a second, and a look of horror crossed her face.
"What are you-?" The sound of a gunshot split the air and the woman gasped before slumping in its arms.
Well, damn. There goes my fun. It looked up in the direction from which the shot had originated and saw, just for a moment, an Asian woman, looking a bit worse for wear, lowering a large scoped weapon. A bus passed in front of her and she was gone.
The demon shrugged inwardly, someone thankful that the mysterious assassin had at least saved it some awkward explanations, and took on the role of the distraught lover until the police showed up. Once the rest of the MCRT arrived it stood back and watched the show.
She was going to kill…why?
Well I hate to say I told you so, but…no, I actually, I love to say I told you so. Take heed, Timmy. Demons aren't the only evil is this world that hide behind a pretty face.
Its host remained silent and the demon chuckled to itself, later enjoying its opportunity to use the host's own words as part of it playing the poor, traumatized yet still stoic agent back at the Yard.
"Amanda was going to kill me."
"Well yeah, you didn't give her what she wanted."
You got that right, Gibbs…
It sat and waited until Vance dismissed McGee and then returned to McGee's desk. Tony was waiting, obviously there to offer what passed for support in his mind. Tony offered a few semi-serious comments and then finally decided to try humor.
"Maybe you should join a monastery," he joked and the demon chuckled, earning a strange look from its host's co-workers.
"That'd be a neat trick."
TBC…