Author's Note: Let me know what you think! I appreciate your comments and am so pumped by all the love. :D It motivates me to write more which is tough because I have schoolwork to do, too. :P

Chapter 10: A Secret Deal

The Devil stood in his chambers in the Underworld with a renewed sense of satisfaction. Andras was standing before him finally ready to do his bidding, even though he was really only doing it out of fear for his life. The Devil couldn't wait to send Andras after the boys, but knew he'd have to prepare them first; a point Andras was very quick to point out to him.

"You know they have to already be angry for me to infect them," he said in a very harsh voice that suited the demon of rage.

"I'm well aware of that," he said. "I am working on that. I will do what I can to start pitting them against each other."

"Like what?" Andras asked.

"I have watched them over the past year since they-"

"Humiliated you?" Andras interjected. The Devil narrowed his eyes at him.

"Watch yourself," the Devil said. "I have no use for you once your task is complete. Consider it a favor that I am allowing you to live when this is over. You cross me, and I may reconsider."

"I only speak the truth," Andras answered.

"Even so," the Devil countered. "I have watched them for a year and have learned worlds of information about them. Not only is the youngest the most apt to fall in love, but he is also the most hot tempered."

"A typical sign of being the youngest," Andras commented.

"Indeed," the Devil said. "The oldest is the most compassionate, so he will be the hardest."

"Even the most compassionate are able to become enraged when the setting is right."

"Yes. The best way to anger him is to leave him alone. His friends will start fighting around him and he will follow because of his sense of compassion."

"And the other two?"

"The second oldest is the most responsible, so he will prove a relatively easy target as well. The fourth is sort of a tricky one. He is a combination of all three of them with a lot of extra energy thrown in. He can be responsible, can be quick to anger, and can be compassionate. I will have to be very careful with how I approach him. But since they all live together, I will wait until an opportunity presents itself to start."

"Excuse me, sir," the Devil's minion entered looking very nervous.

"What is it?" the Devil asked impatiently; he hated being interrupted.

"Well, um, sir, it would seem, sir, that the boys have, um, spoken to a woman who is able to help them, sir," he answered very nervously.

"What do you mean?" the Devil said now growing angry.

"Well, sir, she's a witch, and she told them about you and the other demons of the Underworld and is working to find a witch who is able to help them," he replied thoroughly wringing his hands.

"Witches," Andras said. "They always get in the way."

"Yes, but there isn't much any of them can do to stop me," the Devil answered.

"Even so, don't you think you should deal with her?" Andras asked.

"Yes, of course," the Devil answered. "Would you like to do the honors, Andras?"

"It would be my pleasure," Andras said breaking into a smile. "It's been ages since I've killed someone."

"Then by all means. Go have fun."

The boys spent the next several months waiting for more information from Regan, while still trying to go about their lives as normal. They'd played several more gigs, thereby making enough money to pay rent, but their cabinets were still pretty bare. However, they still went out in pairs whenever they didn't go out as a group. Even though Regan had said she didn't think the Devil wanted to kill them, they were still very cautious in their movements. They were also very cautious in whom they trusted, but there were still a few good things that had happened out of the whole mess.

Davy had so far been true to his word and while he got starry-eyed a few times, he had yet to actually go out with another girl. He'd told the others he was too afraid and he saw himself as being the weakest, despite his friend's adamant declarations of the opposite. He insisted that if he weren't the weakest, then why would the Devil have chosen to go after him first? Peter had tried countless times to try and prove Davy wrong saying they all had their faults, but Davy just wouldn't listen. Instead, he sequestered himself off in the house as much as he possibly could saying it was the only way to make sure he didn't put any of them in danger again.

Mike on the other hand had been a recipient of the benefits of the bad situation. He had told Peter that he had met a beautiful woman in Micky's old hometown and he talked to her now on almost a daily basis. He couldn't stop talking about how smart, funny, and beautiful she was. Davy had questioned the idea of starting a relationship with someone new after what had happened to him, but Micky had pointed out that the Devil wouldn't be stupid enough to try the same thing twice for one, and Micky himself had taken her out once while they were in high school for two. So with Micky's blessing (insisting she wasn't an ex-girlfriend because they'd only gone out once) Mike carried on his relationship with Michelle.

Micky had decided to devote his time and energy to doing as much research as he could on magic and witches trying to come up with some sort of way they could protect themselves. He'd pestered the others to go to a magic shop with him because he'd read all the books in the library already, but the others all thought it a little too weird and Mike insisted on letting the experts deal with it. Every day that passed with no word from either Father Murphy or Regan, however, he would pester more and even dare to go on his own, a suggestion that all three emphatically shot down multiple times. If Micky was in danger out there on his own, could he imagine what might happen if he were alone in a shop full of magical items?

Peter was also reaping some benefits. The librarian who had flirted with him, Allison, had also slipped him her phone number when she'd given him the copies of those stories. He'd called her a few times and was really starting to take a liking to her. He kept this a secret, however, from his friends after the conversation about Mike's love interest. He hadn't actually gone out with the girl because he was never alone anymore, but he'd sneak down at night and call her a few times a week. He'd found he could sit and talk to her for hours on almost any subject. Everyone always saw him as the dummy of the group, but that was only because he was shy and didn't really know how to relate to other people. Those who actually knew him (the Monkees included) knew that he was actually the smartest out of all of them. At least when it came to book knowledge. Micky knew how a lot more than he did about electronics and technology, but when it came to math, science, history, etc, Peter knew a lot more than the others.

Tonight was one of those nights that he would sneak out to call her. He waited until Davy was sound asleep and slowly and quietly crept out of bed. Allison worked late most nights, so she'd only just be getting home about this time and was expecting his call. He took the phone away from the bedrooms and next to the bathroom door so he could talk without waking up his friends. Once he settled in the corner, he dialed her number, which he'd memorized by now. She answered on the first ring, having been expecting his call.

"Hi, Peter," she said when she answered. A very large smile crossed his face at the sound of her voice.

"Hi, Allison," he answered. They talked for an hour about the various things they'd done so far this week among other things, but finally she asked him a very pointed question.

"Peter, when are you going to actually take me on a date?" she asked bluntly.

"Well, um," he started. He wasn't exactly sure what to say. He wanted to take her on a real date, but how could he? How could he explain that the Devil was trying to do them in and that meant he couldn't go anywhere alone. And he couldn't ask his friends to go with him because he knew they wouldn't approve of him going out with her given their situation. "I don't know. I'm really busy. Plus you live in Los Angeles and I live in Malibu."

"Yes, but it's really only an hour away," she answered. "And you just got done telling me you spent most of the week at home looking for gigs for you and your friends to play."

"Oh yeah," Peter said realizing he'd just lied very terribly. "I'm sorry. It's really complicated."

"You can tell me, Peter," she said.

"I really can't," Peter said. "You wouldn't really believe me."

"Does it have to do with all that research you were doing on the Devil?"

"Sort of."

"That research wasn't for a friend, was it?"

"Yes and no. It was for my friends, but it was also for me."

"So the Devil is trying to hurt you?"

"Yes. It's a really long story. Look, Allison, I really want to take you out; I would love to take you to this really nice Italian place I know of, but I can't really go anywhere alone and my friends aren't in a place where they trust any outsiders right now. They think everyone is out to get us. I can't say I blame them necessarily."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes, I trust you, but they won't. That and I don't have any money."

"Well, that doesn't really matter. Times are changing. Girls can pay for things sometimes, too."

"I couldn't ask you to pay for me."

"Why? I like you, Peter. And I can afford it because I have a nice job and it would be something I really want to do."

"I really like you, too and it's not that I'm saying guys have to pay, but I would just feel guilty having someone else pay for me."

"I kind of expected as much from you, Peter," she said with a laugh. "It doesn't really matter anyway, though does it? If you can't go out because of your safety, I'm not going to push it. I really don't want anything to happen to you."

"Thanks, Allison."

"I have to go to bed now, but I'll talk to you in a few days, ok?"

"Sure, sleep well."

"You too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Peter said hanging up the phone. He sighed and leaned his head against the wall.

"Who was that?" said a voice from in the kitchen making Peter jump nearly a foot off the ground.

"What are you doing down here?" Peter asked once he realized it was Micky.

"Couldn't sleep," Micky answered. "Came down to get something to drink. Now you answer my question. Who's Allison?"

"How much did you hear?" Peter asked blushing.

"I heard that you want to take her out on a date but are too afraid to ask us to go with you."

"Well, yeah. Davy kinda berated Mike for going out with Michelle."

"True, but no one is saying that we should become hermits. I vouched for Michelle not just because I know her, but because Mike deserves to be happy and find a good girl. And I know she's good for him. I think the same thing of you. We all deserve to be happy. Davy's just bitter about girls right now."

"So you think it would be ok for me to go out with her?"

"Yes and no," Micky said. "We still need to be cautious. I think Mike might have something to say about it as well as Davy, but I on the other hand think there's such thing as being too cautious. Who knows how long this whole thing is going to last. But I do think you shouldn't be alone with her."

"So you'll go with me?"

"Tell you what, I'll go with you if you go with me."

"Where?"

"The magic shop, Peter."

"Oh yeah. You really think that's a good idea, don't you? Even after everything Mike and Davy said?"

"What, that it could be more dangerous? I really don't think it could be. From everything I've read most witches are actually good. Magic is neutral. It's how you use it. And the shop owner may be able to help us."

"Regan told us to keep a low profile, though. She said she'd work on it."

"Peter, it's been about 3 months. I have a really bad feeling that she's not going to be able to help us after all."

"So do I, actually."

"The sooner we figure this out, the sooner you can go out with Allison on your own and stop hiding her from Mike and Davy."

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"And we'll be together. So if anything happens on your date or while we're in the magic shop, we can take care of each other."

"I guess you have a point."

"I won't tell Mike and Davy if you won't." Micky smiled at him. It was very hard to resist when he smiled like that. And he'd brought up some very good points. And Peter really wanted to take Allison on a real date instead of just calling her every few nights.

"Deal," Peter said finally.