It hadn't been intentional on Petra's part. Technically she was still employed to them, but there was no use prolonging this transition. When she came out of Greek and saw Captain waiting for her in his usual spot, she ran in the opposite direction.

Where she had planned to go, Petra couldn't name. She just wanted to not have to agonize over this demon stuff for one day, but it seemed that was a luxury even she couldn't afford now. She could feel Captain's presence follow her around every corner. Ugh, it made her want to scream. Realizing there was nothing left she could do, Petra darted into an alleyway and waited for him to teleport in from of her.

"Is this following thing something new, or have you just been secretly clingy this entire time?" She crossed her arms in front of her, trying to mask the utter insecurity she felt.

"Is it a crime to worry about you?" He ran a hand through his hair, refusing to look at her.

"I thought my partner wasn't a creep."

"I thought my partner wasn't an idiot."

Something inside Petra snapped at that. How dare he act like any of this decision had to do with him? How dare he support her one day only to come around the next and pout like a freaking child? It was unbelievable.

"Get your head out of your fucking ass," She closed the distance between them, drawing herself up to her full height. "This is my life. If I don't want to put myself in danger, then let me make that choice."

"This isn't about that, Girly," He growled silver eyes glowing dangerously.

"Then what is it about?" Petra drew nearer to his face. "Have you come to kill me? Commander said no one backs out of a deal with a demon after all." Her body tensed up in preparation for a fight or something else entirely. If he started something, she knew she would not have the self-control to stop it.

However instead of responding to her taunting, his expressive shifted into something much softer, almost remorseful.

"I know the other humans have treated you like shit. You act like it was nothing, but you don't deserve to be thought the monster when we're right here. You deserve better than that." Captain wrapped his arms around her frame and rested his head on her shoulder. "You deserve the world, not that."

Every cell in her body was frozen in utter shock. She didn't know what she'd do if she could return his affection in anyway. The logical side of herself told her to stop this right now, there was no need staying attached to someone you were leaving soon. The emotional side of herself though told her to finally pull the handsome devil in for a kiss and never let go of him.

Thankfully she didn't have to make a choice. Captain drew back willingly, trying to recover his usual steely expression. Noticeably though, his left hand moved to cup her right cheek. It was a less overwhelming gesture, but it still managed to make her head spin.

"I just don't what you to make a mistake you'll regret," He let out a slow breath, as if it was his first in a long time. "But regardless of what you choose, I got a message for you from us all. Don't trust anyone or anything related to the Holy Legion, if you hear that name, run and get to a crowded place with humans as soon as possible."

"The Holy Legion, what do you mean?"

"It's a long story, but I swear I'll explain later, right now just survive." He stroked her scar, and then in a blink of an eye he was gone.

There was only one thought running through Petra's mind.

Shit, I am so fucked.

When Captain made his jump back to the mansion, he found Commander and Four-Eyes, still packing up. You think by now the three of them would have figured out how to be able to box away things in a timely matter, but it seemed like they were determined to take their sweet time.

"How aren't ya'll used to this yet?" He took a package out of Four-Eyes' arms so that they could walk faster. "It's only been a century or so since we've had to last handle this mess."

"You have no right to complain since you got out of chores to woo Pet." They flicked his forehead before sticking out their tongue. "Speaking of which, why'd you spend so much energy teleporting, you better not be planning on making this jump alone." They sent a bit of healing relief that helped loosen his muscles. It was a kind gesture Captain hadn't been expecting at all. He decided then it couldn't hurt to be a bit nice in return, despite the sore subject.

"If you think I'm wooing her, then you're the one with your head in your ass," To be fair, he had initially thought of something much worse. "After deciding that the demon tamer life wasn't for her, do you really think she'd want to be associating with us?"

"She did get the warning concerning the Holy Legion, right?" Commander glanced back at the two of them, something akin to concern painting his features.

"Yeah, once we get moved though, I'm hightailing back to keep her with us for a while. I doubt a demon tamer could stand against them for long."

"Just concentrate on getting us to safety," Commander grunted as he set down a crate in the courtyard. "I think that should be everything. The rest I can materialize once we move."

"Are you sure you guys are ready?" Four-Eyes grabbed their hands once they had circled their items. "We still have a bit before they break in, right?" They raised an eyebrow at Commander, but all he could return was his polite, strained smile as usual.

"Unfortunately no. I'm going to drop the barrier on the count of three, can you handle that Captain?" His pale blue eyes held so much trust, Captain wasn't sure he would have been able to let him down if he had wanted to.

"I'll get us there. You can count on me."

"Alright, let's begin then. 1-"

The three of them tried to ignore the growing pressure from each others grip.

"-2-"

Both Commander and Four-Eyes closed their eyes, but Captain forced his to stay open.

"-3-"

For an agonizing half second, they were falling through space as they swarmed around them. It was like a tidal wave of white, a million eyes seemed to bear into them with weapons bared and ready to strike.

Before any of the Holy Legion could react, he teleported them away to the new pocket dimension Commander had set for them.

Petra tried not to let whatever the hell had happened between her and Captain affect things. She went through her daily life as normal as she could. If she maybe stared at a shadow for a bit too long though, that was hardly anyone else' business was it?

It was difficult not to succumb to paranoia, especially when she had no idea what she was looking out for. Still it at least seemed like a good idea to do as Captain said and stay around other people. Demons rarely got too aggressive if they knew the effect of their actions could be seen. So she checked out books she wouldn't read from the library. She walked around the park, never straying far from clumps of people. When the sun started to set and she realized she might finally need to return to her dorm, she made sure to get on the most crowded subway car she could find.

Once she settled down, her body seemed to unwind from the day's stress. For a moment she simply breathed and let everything flow out of her.

It was that one moment, a demon no bigger than a fly buzzed past her and landed on her shoulder. Maybe if she had been more alert she would have noticed it and swatted it away, but by now demons were barely a nuisance when on the job. Even hindsight could not have saved her.

By the time she felt it bite her, Petra's tongue had swollen so large she could barely speak. She tried to call for help, but it came out as a yawn of all things as her eyelids began to droop.

Oh god I'm gonna die

This wasn't like being drugged, but forced to sleep by and invisible force. Petra struggled to lift her limbs, but it was then with a frightening speed everything became black.

A.N. We're reaching the final chapter(s) very soon, depends on how things fit from my outline, but the conclusion is just around the corner!