Making the Deal
AN: So here we are, Chapter 4. I hate to say it, but sorry for the delay, I got really sick for a couple days and wasn't able to really do anything other than sleep and pray to the porcelain god. I'm better now though! :D Onward then~!
CHAPTER FOUR
The next day, while on her lunch break, Pandora gave Bobby Singer a call. The greeting she received certainly wasn't what she was expecting.
"Yes?" came the gruff voice over the phone.
"Bobby Singer?" she asked, gripping the phone tightly in her hand.
"Who wants to know?" Taking a deep breath, she mentally steadied herself.
"My name is Pandora Burnett. I have a bit if a demon problem and was told you would be able to help me." This appeared to pique his interest some.
"What kind of problem?"
"I kind of have this crossroad demon attempting to get me to make a head with him, and I want to know why."
"You didn't summon him?"
"No, he just appeared one day and offered me a deal."
"That's odd behavior for a crossroad demon. Usually you need to actually summon them at a crossroad for them to strike up a deal. I'm going to do some research. In the meantime, don't be tempted by whatever he offers you. It's not worth it, and he'll own your soul in the end."
"Believe me, I am well aware of that fact," she said wryly, "He at least told me that was one of the conditions."
"Did he give you a name?"
"Crowley."
"Balls. Okay, stay pull, keep your head down, and I'll get back to you when I've got something," Bobby instructed.
"Yes sir," she answered, relieved that she finally might get some answers.
The rest of her week proved to be uneventful, for the most part that is. After all, it wasn't exactly the norm to be screwing a demon. She hadn't seen him all week and was glad when he appeared that evening after work. She had just finished making dinner when he suddenly appeared in her kitchen. Smiling, she pointed to the recently restocked cupboard where the scotch resided; knowing that he was here to relieve the stress that accumulated while he was out doing whatever it was that demons like him did. Serving herself some dinner she paused when a thought occurred to her.
"What would happen, were I to make this deal?" she asked slowly, trying to find the right words to phrase the question, "Would you suddenly disappear, and not show up again till my ten years are up?"
"That would more than likely be the case," he nodded. Frowning, she considered what he just told her.
"And you wont stop chasing after me until you get your contract, will you?"
"No."
"I see."
oooo
Early the next morning she woke to her phone ringing off the hook. Groggily she hauled her very, very sore (and slightly battered) ass out of bed to answer it. Glancing at her alarm clock, she groaned when she saw the display said 5:26 AM.
"'Ello?" she mumbled, not even trying to form a correct greeting.
"Pandora Burnett? It's Bobby Singer. You available to meet this afternoon?" the gruff voice said from the other end of the phone, "I found something." This immediately perked her up.
"Of course! Where do you want to meet? What time? I don't drive, so it's going to have to be somewhere near a transit stop," she fumbled around on her desk for a pen and paper, "I just live in Sioux Falls, so anywhere near downtown should be good."
They decided on a place and time, and Pandora hung up the phone, feeling much more awake and energized than she had in the last week. Despite the fact that she still had over 6 hours to wait before she was meeting him, she found herself getting ready to head out the door. 'Well, now what? I have the whole morning to waste away."
"I could always go back to bed," she conversed aloud with herself, "But I'm already up. I guess I could always head over there early. No, it's way, way to early to go to a pub." She shook her head. 'Back to bed it is then.' Setting her alarm for 11 o' clock she crawled back into bed, suddenly feeling exhausted, realizing that she didn't even get to sleep till sometime around two in the first place. Hugging the sheets and pillow to herself, she inhaled deeply, smiling as she drifted off to sleep thinking of Crowley.
At eleven on the dot, her alarm went off. Instantly she was awake and jumped out of bed. She only had an hour to get ready again and take the bus over to the pub they were meeting at. After finally getting a break through, she wasn't going to be late just because she slept in. At twelve, right on time, she entered the seemingly dingy bar. She was pleasantly surprised when the pub wasn't as grimy on the inside as it had appeared on the outside. She walked up to the bar and sat on one of the high stools, thinking that when Bobby got there, he should be able to spot her pretty easily as she didn't really fit into the atmosphere all that well. When the bartender asked her what her pleasure was, her first though was of Crowley. Suppressing a telltale grin, she asked for a regular coke.
Soon enough, an older man walked through the door. He certainly looked as she had imagined he would after hearing him on the phone. He looked sort of like someone you would see at a truck stop, with his scruffy beard, blue and while trucker hat, and his stockiness. Not that he was fat, mind you, but he had a certain look about him, like he could easily pick you up and throw you out the window if you got in his way. Pandora made a mental note never to get on his bad side. He immediately walked up to her.
"Pandora?" he asked, holding out his hand. She nodded and grasped it firmly.
"Thank you for going to all this work for me," she replied. Looking around suspiciously, Bobby led her over to a secluded booth.
"This is not the type of talk for a place where over eager ears can hear," he said, sitting down and motioning the waiter over. "I'll have a beer," he told the waiter when he came to their table. He looked at Pandora expectantly, but she just raised her glass.
"I'm good," she grinned, referring not only to her still full drink, but the fact that she was finally, hopefully going to figure out what to do about Crowley. She didn't want to sell her soul, but she didn't want him to leave her either.
"So what did you find?" she asked, squirming in her seat, part excitement, part anxiety. Bobby sighed.
"Well, it's not good, that's for sure. Looks like you are nothing more than a plaything for the guys upstairs."
"Wait, what?"
"Guess I should start from the beginning. You know what hunters are?" She shook her head.
"I'm assuming they hunt... things," she answered.
"Hunters are people who hunt the monsters under your bed. We kill the things that want to eat your insides."
"Lovely," she replied, her face scrunched up at the imagery.
"That covered, what do you know about the bible? About demons, monsters, and things that go bump in the night?"
"Lots," she chuckled, "I spent nearly a month in the library doing research."
"And what do you know about angels?" She paused and considered. Opening her mouth to say something, she closed it again.
"Now that you mention it, not much, they weren't exactly what I was researching," she said flushing and looking down at her drink.
"Well, I guess it started when the angels started breaking the seals holding Lucifer in hell," he began. Pandora was glad that she decided not to take a drink when he started speaking, otherwise she probably would have ended up inhaling the liquid.
"They wanted to release him to bring about the apocalypse so that they could completely purge him and all demons from existence, and create 'paradise'. This wasn't the case however, and both Lucifer and the archangel Michael ended up getting trapped in the Cage." Here, Bobby saddened. She wanted to ask about it, but decided that it was rude to pry.
"Now there is a civil war going on upstairs, and it 'ain't looking good for the little guy," he continued. Pandora scrunched her face up in confusion.
"Ok, well, I'm assuming that since demons and angels exist, that God exists too, so where is he in all of this?"
"He's gone."
"Gone?" Bobby grimaced.
"From what we can tell, he's completely disappeared. Now there are two separate factions of angels fighting, the ones who supported Michael and want to eradicate the demons, and most likely humans as well, and the ones who support Castiel, one of the few angels on 'our side'."
"And where do the demons fit into all of this?" she questioned, feeling a little overloaded by the information she had already received.
"Mostly, just trying to survive. Then there's Crowley. He's appointed himself King of Hell, and the bastard's trying to find Purgatory. Supposedly, that's where all monsters go when us Hunters gank them," Bobby told her, taking a swig of his beer, now that it had finally arrived. She felt the colour leave her face, and kinda wished that she had ordered a beer as well.
"And what does he plan on doing once he's found purgatory?" she inquired, almost not wanting to know.
"We aren't quite sure about that one," he answered in frustration, downing his whole mug.
"And how does any of this relate to me? Why does Crowley want this contract with me so bad? And how am I a 'plaything'?"
"There's something special about your soul. I'm still not sure what, none of my material says WHY it's so special, but as it turns out, the angels, when you die, will be able to use it to exterminate the demons. And you can bet that if Crowley's after you that Michael's followers are going to start looking for you too, and if they find you, I wouldn't put it past them to kill you just to get your soul. This is also the reason why Crowley wants the deal. If he owns your soul, the angels wont be able to use it," he explained.
"So, I'm screwed either way," she sighed. Looking at her empty glass mournfully, she motioned the waiter over and ordered herself a double shot of her favorite scotch.
"What?" she asked, when she noticed the odd look Bobby was giving her.
"You aren't freaked out as you should be after learning that not only are demons and angels real, but both are out for your soul," he said.
She shrugged, "What would freaking out accomplish? I'm still stuck, and it would be counter productive." He shook his head.
"You'd be a damn fine Hunter, given the training," he chuckled. She grinned and leaned forward.
"Could I?" she asked, "It might come in handy later on." Bobby considered it for a moment.
"Perhaps, but in the meantime, I think you should come with me, and let the professionals take care of it, we don't want you getting in over your head and ending up in either hands." Slightly put out, she sunk back in her seat.
"I'll be fine on my own. I have Crowley coming around all the time, and he's not going to let the angels kill me, at least not until he has his contract. Therefore, as long as I keep refusing, I'm safe," she stated, feeling a little bit proud of herself for figuring that out. Bobby thoughtfully stroked his beard with his hand.
"I suppose that would work for a while, but Crowley is known to have a bit of a temper. He may not kill you, but he is capable of torturing you until you beg for the contract." This time her grin was feral.
"Like I said, I'll be fine. I assure you, I can hold my own against Crowley. I have a secret weapon." She held up her glass and chuckled.
"Lemme guess, it's his favorite," commented Bobby.
"You betcha," she answered, downing the last of her drink. Her expression went serious all of a sudden, "so is there anything you can tell me to prepare me in case I find myself in trouble with either other demons or angels and need to defend myself?" Nodding, he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, and quickly drew a pentagram with five different symbols in it.
"This is a devil's trap. When a demon steps into it, he's not getting out until the ring is broken." Now he drew another symbol, this one just a circle with seven symbols surrounding it and a large symbol in the middle, "For this one to work, it must be written in blood, and it works the best if it's your blood you use. It will banish any angel in the area." Nodding, she took the scrap of paper from him, planning on committing them to memory that night.
"I should head home now," she said, sliding out of her seat and standing up, "I need to memorize these, and I expect Crowley to come around at some point, and I would rather that he didn't know that I was going around trying to dig up information on him." Bobby gave her a look of helpless sympathy as he stood too.
"Take care of yourself, kid," he said, giving her another firm handshake, "I'll give you a ring if I happen across anything else."
"Thank you so much, for everything," she grinned. Quickly paying for her drinks, she headed back home, where she studied the symbols until she could reproduce them by memory.
Satisfied that she was at least somewhat prepared, she decided to treat herself with a movie and ice cream before bed, once again grateful to Bobby, although still worried about what she was going to do about her predicament. She didn't really want to go to hell, but wasn't sure how else she could prevent the angels from destroying Crowley. With a sigh, she put all thoughts of that away and sat down to enjoy her movie.
AN: Well, this story is quickly becoming a monster! My main idea is still there, but it keeps evolving. Haha. And the more I write of Pandora, the more I don't know what's going to happen to her… is she going to make the deal and go to hell, do the angels get her? I could do so much with this! *rubs hands together in a scheming way* Man, is Bobby fun to write, lol. Hope I got him at least somewhat in character. As always, I would love to know what everyone thinks, and see you in Chapter 5! C: