The next day, Marian second- and third- guessed her decision to visit her family with Crowley, imagining all the ways things could go wrong. She had no doubt that things were going to be unpleasant between the demon and her parents, seeing as how their initial introduction had been…Well, an aggressive invasion of the town and abduction of their daughter. Hopefully Erica and David would help her keep the peace, as opposed to fanning the flames. Crowley, of course, didn't seem at all concerned: he was looking forward to it, as far as she could tell, like it was going to be the most entertainment he'd have all year.

"I promise you I'll be on my best behavior," he said as she fought back her fourth panic attack of the day. "I'm not going to hurt your family or scar anyone else for life."

"It's not just your behavior I'm worried about."

"Your parents will be fine. And Abercrombie and Fitch know to behave themselves." He motioned for her to sit down on the edge of the bed. "Today is for you, love; I'm not going to ruin it for you."

Marian snapped to attention as he drew a small knife from his pocket.

"I told you I'd found a way to keep you hidden from other demons," he explained, sitting down beside her. "It's an old angel trick, and it wasn't easy to find, but it's easy enough to do. All you need is two sigils carved into your skin—one on your back, and one on your chest—and the angelic part of you, the little smidge of grace, will be virtually undetectable. You'll be just another human as far as anything supernatural is concerned."

Her eyes stayed locked on the knife. Carved into her skin…Yeah, that wasn't too bad. She'd had worse, for sure, like having her arms and legs snapped like raw spaghetti.

"Um. Right. Okay." Wait—Crowley was used to torturing people with knives. Did she really want him doing this?

"Great. Shirt off; I'll start on your back."

Marian blinked. "What?"

"I need skin, angel," Crowley smirked. "It's not like I haven't seen you naked before."

She bit her lip, feeling her face turn bright red. She quickly pulled her shirt off and flopped onto her stomach without looking at him. He smoothed his hand across her back in the space between her shoulder blades and bra strap.

"Ready?"

She nodded, muscles tensing in anticipation. The blade bit through her skin and she gritted her teeth. Normally when someone was stabbing her, she was full of adrenaline in the middle of a fight and she wouldn't feel it until later. But this…All she could do was feel it. The cut was shallow, which somehow made it worse.

Crowley was surprisingly gentle, though. He continued to rub her back with his free hand as he worked, his knifework steady and precise. Marian could even tell what symbol he was drawing.

When he was finished, he wiped away the blood and bandaged the area. "Turn," he said, nudging her shoulder.

She'd been dreading this part. Even with her bra on, she still felt exposed. Still, she had to do what he said, so she flipped onto her back, avoiding eye contact. Crowley felt along her sternum, feeling for a good starting point. Oh shit, this side's going to be worse, Marian thought.

"Ready?"

She nodded, turning her head away. She tried to hold still, but her skin was more sensitive on her chest than on her back. She tried to breathe through her stomach to stop her chest from moving, but she still jerked when the knife slid over bone. Crowley pressed down on her shoulder to keep her still, and she bit her lip so hard it started to bleed.

He worked quickly, though, and soon he was smoothing a bandage over his artwork. Marian breathed a sigh of relief and slipped her shirt back on.

"Did it work?"

Crowley stepped back and eyed her critically. "Yes. You look perfectly human; not a touch of angel to you. You'll have any demon fooled," he said with a victorious grin.

Instead of porting directly to her parents' house, they arrived several blocks away and got into a vintage black Bentley Continental. Crowley decided it would be more 'human' of them to arrive in a car instead of blinking into existence.

"I didn't know you had a car," Marian said.

"It's borrowed," Crowley replied.

"Does that mean 'stolen'?"

"Hah. Not in this case. It belongs to an old…Friend. Well. Good acquaintance, I suppose. Demons don't have the luxury of friends."

"Human?"

"Might as well be. He's gone completely native—that's what they get, posting someone up here 24/7." He motioned for Marian to get in on the left-hand side. "It's British," he explained, sliding behind the wheel on the right.

She was going to ask how his demon friend got his car from Britain to America, but decided it was best not to ask-one of those little demonic 'miracles,' she supposed.

After a very short drive, they pulled up to her parents' house. To her surprise, Erica was waiting for her outside, leaning against a tree, hands shoved into her coat pockets, shoulders hunched up in the cold. When Marian approached, she threw her arms around her in a bear hug.

"Hey! Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine, we just need to talk before you go inside," Erica said hurriedly. "I told David to keep them all entertained." She glanced back at Crowley and shot him what she hoped was her most withering glare; he just smiled back at her. "Anyway," she continued, turning her attention back to Marian, "After this asshole took you, your parents were…Well, 'upset' doesn't really cover it. They were completely freaked, but they couldn't tell everyone you'd been abducted by a demon."

"Right. Right." She felt a pang of guilt at making her parents suffer so much, but at least they were alive this way.

"So they said you'd been abducted on one of your mission trips and had probably either been killed or sold as a sex slave."

If she'd had a drink, she would have spat it out. "My parents said that?"

"…They didn't handle it well, Marian. I didn't want to say anything before, but…Well, now you're back from the dead, so you might get some…Odd…Questions, and I didn't want them to take you by surprise…"

She sighed, leaning her head on her friend's shoulder. "Okay. I was kidnapped on a mission trip to—where was I supposed to be?"

"Er…The Congo, I believe."

"Okay. They could've just given me Ebola," she grumbled. But she was already thinking up answers to questions in her head; it was really no different than what she always did with her family: Pretend she wasn't a hunter, or a fallen angel; that she had a semi-normal life, and wasn't routinely shot at, bitten, stabbed, and hexed as she ran around trying to save people. Now she just had to convince them that, instead of making a deal with a demon in exchange for the lives of her friends, family, and 6000 other people, she'd been abducted by human traffickers. And then…Rescued? Escaped?

The front door opened and she felt a blast of warm air.

"Marian!" her mother cried.

"Mom!"

She ran the rest of the way and bounded up the stairs, nearly knocking her mother over in her enthusiasm as she wrapped her arms around her. Both women burst into tears; Marian recovered quickly, knowing she needed to put on a strong façade for her family, but her mother was weeping openly. Shit.

"It's okay, Mom. Erica's told you about hunting, right?"

Her mother sniffled and nodded, maintaining a vice-like grip around her daughter.

"So you know my entire adult life has basically been running into danger."

"But I didn't know that then," she sobbed. "Now I know, and I can't—I can't—"

"Hey, no, it's okay! I'm safer with Crowley than I ever was as a hunter." She bit her lip to stop herself from mentioning the encounter with the other demon. 'I only got raped once' wasn't exactly going to help her mom feel better at this point.

She looked up, seemingly noticing the demon for the first time, and her body went rigid. She swept her a hand across her face, wiping away her tears, and pursed her lips. "Him."

"Mom. You agreed—"

"I know, I know! It's just…Last time I saw him, I was—I was possessed, and I couldn't do anything; but now I just want to rip his stupid demon head off!"

"Mom. No one is going to rip anyone's head off. No one is going to attack him. You know the deal."

Her mother sighed. "Yes. I know the deal." Lowering her voice, she growled: "And I'd like to tell him where he can shove it!"

"Yes, yes, alright. Can we come inside now? It's cold!"

As they were finally ushered in, Marian shot her friend a look that said help! Erica nodded and grabbed her mom before she could start anything with Crowley, steering her back into the crowd of relatives that were gathered around to greet their back-from-the-dead girl.

Her father hugged her and kissed her cheek, eyeing the demon but keeping his mouth shut regarding how he felt about current matters. He took Marian just out of what he thought was the demon's earshot. "Love you, Pumpkin," he said. "And don't worry, Erica and David helped me clean up all the traps and salt your mom put out before everyone got here."

"She—"

"I know, she'll get us all killed. She doesn't care about getting herself killed, as long as you're safe."

"Dad, it's over 6000 people—"

"I know; and that's why we took everything down. She's just being a fierce momma bear, you know that. Doesn't like the thought of anyone hurting her baby."

Marian rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. This was a terrible idea—I shouldn't have come—"

"No, don't say that. We're so happy to see you again, Marian. We—we didn't think we'd ever…" He cleared his throat. "Anyway. Come say hi to everyone."

She glanced back at Crowley with concern, but he just smiled and winked at her. She let her father guide her into the kitchen, where she was instantly surrounded by aunts, uncles, and cousins. A few small children ran around at thigh-level, oblivious to the dramatics around them.

"Welcome home!"

"So glad you're back!"

"We were praying you'd come home safely!"

"How have you been?"

"Let me get you a drink?"

"Your gentleman friend sure is handsome."

Marian started to feel overwhelmed by all the well-wishes and hugs: she hadn't had this much human interaction in a while. Thankfully Erica appeared beside her, having put David in charge of her mother, and provided much-needed moral support. Her friend, along with a mug of her mom's homemade hot chocolate, helped her to relax enough to remember some of what she was supposed to be telling people. She and Crowley had come up with a simple backstory ahead of time; now all she had to do was add the part where she magically escaped human traffickers. Hopefully no one would bring that up.

She almost dropped her drink when she saw Crowley chatting up her grandmother over by the oven. He looked totally at ease, holding a glass of…Well, it must be whiskey, but she was pretty sure no one had brought any. Her grandmother was smiling and laughing, oblivious to the fact that the charming man in front of her was a high-level demon. Marian slowly made her way over to them, fielding questions about her current life as she moved.

"So what are you up to now? Are you working?"

"Yes, I'm working entry-level at a sales company. Just part time, mostly research."

"How did you two meet?"

"At work."

"How are you holding up, dear?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Has it been hard, making the adjustment back to a normal life?"

She snorted. Normal. Right. "Well, I—I have good days and bad ones," she said, because it felt like the most truthful response.

Finally, she reached Crowley. Her grandmother gave her a hug, patting her back fondly. "I like this one. You should keep him around."

Marian forced a smile and a small laugh. "Heh. Thanks."

"Everyone to the table!" her mother called with forced cheer. "Dinner's almost ready!"

The group made its way to the dining room, and Marian stayed back to help her mother bring the food out. Erica helped as well.

"So far so good," her friend said once the three of them were alone.

Her mother glared at the baked ham that was now waiting to be carved. Her father had offered to cut it for them, but she had insisted, wrenching the knife out of his hand. She sliced into it like it had offended her personally. "Yes. Good. Wonderful."

"I don't expect you to understand, Mom—"

"Understand?! Oh, I understand! A demon took my baby because—because she was sent to me by angels—or you were an angel in a past life, I guess I don't completely understand—and he has you at his mercy, to do whatever he wants with you!" She took a few deep, angry breaths. "What does he want with you, Marian? What's he been doing to you all this time? No, don't tell me—I don't want to think about it. But I need to know! I can't stop thinking about what horrible things he must—"

"Mom!"

Marian took the knife from her mom before she could completely destroy the ham, carving the rest of it herself and trying to salvage the shreds she'd made.

"Yes, he possessed you and the entire town, and I made a deal with him to do whatever he wants. But I'm okay. He's not hurting me."

Tears blossomed in her mother's eyes. "I felt you flinch when I hugged you earlier. I felt the bandages, Marian. You don't have to defend him to me; you don't have to pretend things are better than they are. I can handle the truth."

Like Hell you can. She sighed. "It's an Enochian sigil; it had to be cut into my skin. It keeps other demons from sensing my gr—from being able to find me."

"Why are all these demons so interested in you, though? What do they want?"

"Um…" People were going to wonder why they weren't coming out with the food. Well, what's the worst that could happen? "The demons think they can use me to create a weapon for Lucifer—it's a half-angel, half-demon, called the Abomination."

"And how would you create a—" Realization dawned in her mother's eyes. "Ohmygod! He wants to impregnate you?!" She burst into tears again, flinging her arms around her daughter. "I knew it! I knew he would r…r…r…"

"Rape her?" Erica supplied, who was, frankly, done with the woman's hysterics.

Her mother all but collapsed against her, sobbing. Marian felt her face turn bright pink. "It's not like that, Mom; calm down. He hasn't r…Hurt me. Come on; we need to get out there before people start coming to look for us."

Erica helped her get her mom back on her feet, and Marian found a paper bag for her to breathe into. It was awful seeing her mother break down like this: again, she wondered if she should have stayed away. She and Erica brought the food out to the long table, and her mother joined them, looking a little ragged around the edges; she forced a smile for her family, dropping it when she laid eyes on the demon.

Marian slid into her seat next to Crowley, breathing a sigh of relief that no more dramatics could happen for the duration of dinner. He squeezed her hand under the table.

"Everything alright?"

"My mom's just being…Dramatic. This is why I never brought up the whole 'hunting' thing; she would have flipped."

Erica sat down across from her. "I could drug her, if you'd like. Just something to take the edge off."

Marian smiled. "Not a bad idea. We could at least try to get her drunk."

Dinner conversation was kept light, and Marian was able to steer most of it away from her own life to focus on the lives of her relatives. One cousin had just completed his fourth Iron Man competition; another had landed a job as a chef in New York City. An uncle was retiring this year; a cousin was turning 3 in January. Crowley could talk to anyone about anything, which she supposed was part of being a good salesman. He talked football with her uncles; he knew about fitness, cooking, and everything else that was discussed. He really became animated, though, when asked about his relationship with her.

"She really is incredible," he said with a broad smile. "I've never met anyone quite like her."

After dinner, Erica pulled Marian back into the kitchen to 'help clean up,' once again leaving David in charge of monitoring her mother. Her uncles invited Crowley outside to smoke cigars, and to her surprise he accepted.

Marian started putting the leftovers away in Tupperware, and Erica loaded the dishwasher.

"So now that it's just you and me…"

Marian sighed. "Crowley can hear everything I say."

"Now that it's just you and me and a nosy fucking demon," Erica snapped, "How have you been?"

She shrugged. "Fine. I mean, the last time I saw you, things were…Not good, but I'm fine now."

"He killed the other demon?"

Marian nodded.

"Anything else interesting happen since then, or have you been stuck in your little prison the whole time?"

"It's a house, not a prison—"

"Can you leave?" Erica gave her a pointed look. "Then it's a prison."

"At least I'm safe there."

Erica snorted. "Safe from other demons, maybe. You still have to deal with him."

Marian shrugged, searching for the right size container for a bowl of mashed potatoes. "He's not that bad."

"Do you hear yourself? For real?" She shook her head. "He's gotten to you. He's really gotten to you. You've got full-on Stockholm Syndrome, Mare."

"I've just gotten used to him. It's that or go insane. People can get used to anything. Like Uncle Jim—he's got a tumor the size of a basketball on his waist, and he got used to it—that doesn't mean he likes it or wants to keep it."

"Uh-huh. So you're not turning to the Dark Side?"

She gave her friend a crooked smile. "Well, as my best friend, it's your responsibility to kill me when I do."

"If. If you do."

"If. Yeah. That's what I meant."

Erica gave her a sidelong look. "Anyway, anything interesting…?"

"Well, I've been home—I mean, stuck in the house—most of the time, but he did take me to Japan."

"Japan."

"Yeah. He knew I was really into animals before I started hunting, so he took me to one of those kitten cafes. And this whole island full of rabbits running around—it was amazing. The food was really good, too."

"A demon…Took you to look at rabbits." Erica had stopped all pretense of cleaning up and was staring at her friend.

"Uh-huh. They were everywhere, and some of them would come right up to you and you could feed them and pet them. The island used to produce chemical weapons before they were banned, and they were tested on rabbits: Crowley said there are rabbit spirits now, sort of like ghosts but they're only mad at the people who hurt them. There are a lot of ghosts in Japan that aren't really evil, they're just sort of there…And there are other spirits that are like guardians of their temples and stuff, that are good. Oh! And we saw these ghosts of little kids that this guy killed, and they looked just like those creepy Japanese horror movies! They killed the guy and then disappeared."

"You—they—you didn't have to salt and burn them?"

She shook her head. "They were these revenge ghosts. Once they got their revenge, they didn't need to be ghosts anymore. Crowley is better at explaining it."

"O-okay. That sounds…Fun?"

"Yeah. It kinda was. Oh—but the best part—well, the worst part and the best part, I guess—we went to this fox place. It said it was a sanctuary, but it was like fox Hell—they were all caged up or sick and they all looked so depressed. Crowley freed all of them—sent them to Canada, where they could live or die with dignity."

"He did that…For you?"

"Well…I think he mostly did it to cause trouble for the humans running the place. But yeah, it worked out for me too."

"Huh. I wish someone would abduct me and take me to Japan. As far as torture goes, it's not bad."

Marian giggled. "Yeah, he's kind of alright, I guess. If you don't mind, you know, giving up your free will."

The family reconvened in the living room. There was a cozy fire in the fireplace, made all the warmer by the presence of a demon. A Christmas Story was playing on the TV, but the main event was a traditional Yankee Swap. Seating was limited, so Crowley suggested that Marian sit on his lap: Her extended family thought it was cute, while her parents and friends looked ready to murder him. He put his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek, just to piss them off, and her mother turned a festive, furious shade of red.

"It's a Yankee Swap," Marian explained quietly.

"I'm familiar with the concept of exchanging gifts on Christmas, love; I do get out of the office from time to time," Crowley said, just softly enough for her to hear.

"It's…Not really a gift exchange. It's more of a game, that involves gifts…"

"Are you playing, Marian?" her aunt asked.

"No, I didn't—Um, I didn't plan ahead. I wasn't thinking..."

"I brought an extra one for you," her mother said. "I figured you wouldn't have…Time…To get something." She tried to smile at her daughter while also glaring at Crowley, and the result made her look like she was about to be sick.

"Thank you."

Her aunt wrote down a number for every person playing and threw them in a handy Santa hat, then walked around the room and had everyone draw a number. Marian drew number eleven, out of twelve people.

"Oh, man," Erica moaned. "Three."

"I got two," a cousin said forlornly, holding up their paper.

Crowley leaned close to whisper in Marian's ear: "Is this normal human behavior? Or is your family a bit…Special?"

Marian smiled and shook her head. "Crowley's never played," she said aloud to the room.

"Never?" her grandmother said in surprise. "Are you Jewish?"

Erica snorted. After everything that had happened, asking a demon if he was Jewish was just the levity she needed.

"He's British," Marian said quickly, because his accent was even if he wasn't.

"Ah. Well, it's a game we like to play in America at Christmas," her grandmother said. "We take turns picking a present, but you can steal from someone else."

Crowley perked up. Stealing? Maybe the holiday wasn't as namby-pamby as he'd thought.

"And number one is the best, because they get to go first and last, so they can have any present they want," her aunt added.

"And two is the worst," said the cousin who had number two.

They started the game, and though all the humans were having fun, Crowley decided it was, in fact, quite boring. He decided to entertain himself by seeing how irate he could make Marian's mother, as she was the most volatile of the people who knew him. David was an experienced hunter, and merely kept one eye on the demon but didn't act phased by anything he did; and Marian's father was more concerned with stopping her mother from getting everyone killed than he was with being angry at Crowley for molesting his daughter. He could drink away the anger later. And Erica…Well, she wasn't as much fun as Marian's mom, but he might be able to get a rise out of her if he tried hard enough. Like David, she was just keeping an eye on him, but she was much closer to Marian, and the little twitch in her eye that had started as soon as he'd pulled his angel onto his lap told him that he was, in fact, succeeding in pissing her off.

He ran his hands over Marian's thighs, acting like he was going to slide his hand between her legs or down her pants but stopping just short. He rubbed her arms and shoulders, sliding his fingers down her collarbone like he was going to grab her chest, but again stopping short. Catching her mom's eye, he squeezed Marian's ass and kissed her cheek. Marian knew what he was doing, but there was nothing she could do to stop it, and saying anything would have just caused a scene with her blissfully unaware relatives. So she pretended everything was fine.

"Eleven, you're up!" her aunt called.

"That's me," Marian said. "I have to grab a present," she added to Crowley, hinting that she needed him to let her up.

He released his hold on her and she stood up, looking around the room at her options: There were a few food-related gifts, which were always nice. Someone had a mug with a Dunkin' Donuts gift card, which would be useless to her. There was a hideous 'artisan' lamp made from an old wine bottle, and one of those '12 games in 1!' gift sets that only exists around Christmas. There was a giant Yankee Candle, because someone always brings a candle, and a set of snowman mugs and coasters that she was pretty sure had been at last year's swap. The most popular gifts were a target-shooting game, which had been stolen three times, and a wonderfully tacky mug in the shape of a cowboy boot that was filled with M&Ms, which two aunts were determined to get, even if it meant enlisting their husbands and children to steal it back from the other side. It was just like every year, and she loved it, enough that it just about distracted her from Crowley trying to be a dick.

She selected one of the two remaining presents, a medium-sized gift bag with a snowman on it, and sat back down on Crowley's lap to open it. When she pulled the tissue paper out, she shouted in surprise.

"No!" She burst out laughing, removing the contents of the bag for everyone to see.

They called her The Purple Lady, or just the Lady. She had been acquired years ago, no one could remember exactly when or how, but she had definitely come from a craft fair. She was crocheted out of purple yarn, with green accents, and as far as Marian could guess she was supposed to be some sort of dish towel. A plastic doll face was framed by a bonnet, and her 'dress' hung from the base of the bonnet via a button. It was one of the ugliest creations she'd ever seen, and the face had frightened her as a child, but it was perfect.

Underneath the Lady were scratch tickets, like an apology for getting stuck with her.

Marian's family were laughing and joking, saying they hadn't seen the Lady in a while, wondering who put her in the swap.

Crowley stared at the strange…Thing.

"It's…Another tradition, I guess. She gets passed around the family."

"As what, a punishment?"

Several people laughed.

"Yeah, I—kind of, I guess. But it's fun, because then you get to find a way to give her to someone else."

No one was going to 'steal' the Lady, which meant that Marian was stuck with it for now. When the game ended and everyone was chatting, Marian gave her scratch tickets to Erica: It wasn't like she could even turn them in if she won anything, and she couldn't go anywhere to spend the money if she did. She went to grab the Lady, but it wasn't in the bag anymore.

"What…? Do you see her?" she asked her friend. It wasn't like anyone would grab her by mistake.

Erica shook her head. "Crowley didn't mess with it, did he?"

"Why would Crowley want to mess with—oh my god." She stepped back to the demon. "Did you do something to the Purple Lady?"

Crowley smiled.

Marian groaned. "She's not possessed, is she? Is she going to attack anyone, or make them attack anyone else?"

"No, don't you worry, I'm not going to let some creepy doll murder your family. I just made her a bit more fun, is all. Sometimes she might whisper things—nothing bad, just nonsense, really—and she might move on her own, on occasion. But she's not going to hurt anyone. I promise."

"Where is she now?"

"She's in a green minivan, on the back seat."

That was her Aunt Gretchen and Uncle Bob's vehicle. They were fairly young and healthy, and probably wouldn't have heart attacks when they encountered the New and Improved Purple Lady.

Children ran out of energy, and adults started to yawn: it was time to call it a night. People filtered out of the house, hugging Marian goodbye, until the only guests left were David and Erica. Marian was exhausted, her brain fried from worrying about what Crowley might do and what her mother might do in return, and also from coming up with answers to everyone's questions and remembering which lies she'd told to who. Normally, everyone was told the same story to cover up for her hunting life, but since her mom had already told one lie, it was hard to keep track of all the rest.

"I'll say this for the guy—he is good at selling things," Erica told her quietly as they watched the last car drive away. "He sold your whole family on him. They freaking love him, and they're all convinced he's madly in love with you."

"Is that so hard to believe?" Crowley replied smoothly, appearing suddenly right behind them and slipping his arms around Marian's waist.

Erica jumped. "Jesus! Boundaries, man!"

"You are so full of shit!" her mother swore, startling both girls. "You're a demon! You own her, she is your captive! You don't love her. You don't even know how."

Crowley was unphased; he still seemed to find her antics amusing. "Rather presumptuous, coming from someone who only learned demons existed a few months ago."

Her mother was shaking with rage, tears sliding down her face. Marian's dad grabbed her hand before she could reach for the flask of homemade holy water in her pocket and held her back.

"Let it go, Sarah," he urged.

"No!" she snapped, trying to break away from him. "No, I will not let it go! I will not let her go! You are a monster. You took my daughter away from me, and—and you think she's just some toy, some thing that you can use! Don't you dare try to pretend you care about her!"

"Mom—"

"If you truly cared, if it was even possible for you to love her, you would let her go! You'd void that awful contract and let her be free—let her be happy!"

"Mom, please, it's okay." She went to step toward her mother to comfort her, but Crowley's arms tightened around her possessively.

"No! He needs to understand." She turned her watery, bloodshot eyes back on the demon, baring her teeth in a manic, sneering smile. "Humans do not like being slaves. They don't like people who hurt them, who take advantage of them and—and use their bodies against their will. You can own her for eternity, but she will never love you as long as you control her. You can make her act like she likes being with you—make her cuddle up next to you; kiss you; have—have sex with you—" her voice broke at this last statement— "But she will always hate you for it."

Crowley seemed genuinely taken aback by her tirade. His arms became so tight around Marian that she could hardly breathe; she let out a tiny whine and he released her entirely, allowing her to go to her mother. Marian wrapped her arms around her, giving her father a reprieve, and let the woman who'd given birth to her and raised her as a human weep into her shoulder.

"I know, Mom. I know it's been hard on you, and I'm so sorry—"

"You have nothing to be sorry for!" she snapped suddenly, pulling herself up straight. "None of this is your fault! You sacrificed yourself to save us—to save an entire town of people! Never apologize for that! I'm sorry, sweetie, it's just…It has been hard on me. I was trying to hold it together for your sake—your father didn't want you to worry about me. I haven't been eating, I hardly ever sleep anymore. I quit my job—half the time, all I can do is lie on the couch. I just can't stop thinking about what horrible things you're going through! Honestly, I would rather die than have you with that demon for another second. If you wanted to break that contract right now, I wouldn't hold it against you—I'll line up right at the gates of Hell and give him a piece of my mind when I get there. You don't—you don't deserve this…"

She collapsed in tears again, and Marian staggered backwards as her mother leaned most of her weight forward. Seeing her mom hurt like this…Shit. This sucked. She may have been an angel first, but this was her real, human mom, who'd done everything she could for her since she was born.

"I—" Marian stuttered, choking back her own tears. "It's not like that. Don't worry about me; I told you, I'm safer now than I ever was as a hunter."

"It's not about being safe, Marian. I want you to be happy. I want you to be free—to have choices. To—to hunt monsters like him, if that's really what you want to do. You have so much of your life still ahead of you, and he's taken all of it away."

She could feel her heart breaking. How could she make her mother understand that this was just something she had to do? That she'd been through worse on Heaven and Earth, and this was no worse than she deserved for falling from grace? She glanced at Erica, hoping for help, and just got a helpless shrug in response.

Marian sighed heavily. "God, it was so much easier just lying to you. You used to think the most dangerous people I had to deal with were other people. I wish I could just…make you forget that this ever happened."

"You could, you know," Crowley said quietly. "Well, not you—me. If you wanted to."

Her mother snapped her head up to glare at him. "What?"

"It—it might not be such a bad idea," her father said, helping to keep her steady.

"How?" Erica asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, I'm no angel—they're better at this sort of thing. I'd have to wipe her entire memory, going back to our initial…Meeting."

"When we were possessed," her father growled.

"What?! I can't believe you're considering this!" her mother shrieked. "You want to brainwash me so I don't know Marian's been abducted by a demon?"

"You're suicidal, Sarah. You said so yourself not one minute ago. It's killing you, literally."

"Then just kill me! Kill all of us, but let her go!"

Marian looked at her father, then at Erica, and just for good measure she glanced at David, who was ready to step in if her mother plowed through herself and her friend. Their eyes all seemed to say: It's up to you; no hard feelings if we die and get sucked to Hell, but gosh that memory trick sounds nice, doesn't it?

She grabbed her mom in the tightest hug she could. "I love you. So much." As her mother hugged her back, she turned her head toward Crowley and nodded. "Do it." The room held its collective breath for a moment and she clarified hurriedly: "The memory thing. Not the killing."

"WHAT?!" her mother shouted.

Crowley was at her side in an instant, touching her mother's forehead. She went limp in her arms, and her father struggled to pick up some of her weight.

"She'll have total amnesia," Crowley warned. "No memory at all since just before she was possessed."

Marian looked at her father: He nodded grimly. "I'll handle it," he said. "If she'll be happy again, I'll do whatever it takes. You keep fighting your battle, Marian; I've got this one."

"We'll help too," Erica added, squeezing David's shoulder. David nodded. "We'll do what we've always done." Explain away the supernatural; invent normal lives.

She felt a crackle of energy shoot from the demon, and her mom slumped even further toward the floor.

"She'll wake in a few hours. She'll probably have one hell of a headache."

Her father managed to pick up her mom and carry her to the couch, then hugged his daughter goodbye; the farewells were repeated with David and then Erica.

"Goodbye best friend," Marian said, reminding her of her responsibility to kill her.

Erica rolled her eyes, hugging her so hard she left bruises. "I hate you."

"I know." Marian smiled. "Makes it easier to kill me that way."

They ported back home; Crowley said that his 'acquaintance' would retrieve the Bentley soon, but in the meantime it would be secure at her parents' house. Marian changed and brushed her teeth in a tired daze, her brain shutting off so she didn't have to process what had just happened. It couldn't stay shut down forever, though; when she sat down in bed next to the demon, her breathing was shallow and her mind was repeating: You just nuked your mom's memory. You BROKE your mom. You couldn't handle it, so you just made the problem go away—you COWARD.

"It was the best thing you could have done for her," Crowley said, correctly assuming the source of her anxiety. He slid his arm around her and she rested her head on his chest, shaking. "I realize that doesn't mean much coming from me, but your friends didn't stop you, either." She didn't respond except with a whimper; he hugged her tighter. "People can't handle the truth, angel. You know that; you spent your whole life lying to everyone about everything."

It was true; the only people she'd been able to have honest conversations about life with were other hunters, and she still couldn't be completely truthful with them. Not even Erica had known about her previous life until Crowley attacked them.

"You can thank your angelic heritage for that. Angels lie more than anyone. Demons, on the other hand—we hardly ever lie."

She sniffed. "Really."

"When have I ever lied to you?"

Marian opened her mouth to snap a quick response, and stopped. Even before she'd made a deal with him, he hadn't exactly lied to the hunters. He'd manipulated them, withheld information, attacked them outright, and killed, but he'd never hidden the fact that he was evil. Sure, all demons hid that they were demons; but once one had you, there was little reason for them to lie. (This was decades before the Winchesters met Ruby, of course, which is a whole other issue.) A demon would happily explain, in detail, how they were going to torture you. And (for the most part) they honored their deals. Crowley certainly honored a deal.

"Today. With my parents," she said, sounding unsure. "You said…No, you didn't. You implied…I guess that's not the same, is it?"

"What did I imply?" Crowley chuckled. "That I care about you?"

Marian tensed.

"Now who can't handle the truth?" he said, poking her arm. "Is it so hard to believe?"

She shrugged. "You're a demon. It's your job to destroy the world, not care about it."

"Who said anything about destroying the world?"

Her eyes narrowed, though in her current position it was impossible for Crowley to see. "That's why I'm here, isn't it?" she grumbled, feeling too tired to argue but too grumpy to keep her mouth shut.

"Ah. Technically, that's what Lucifer wants. I'd rather have the world keep turning as it is. Once he comes into power, he's just going to kill all the demons off anyway."

"Didn't he create demons?"

"Doesn't mean he can't hate them too."

Marian scowled. "So you're carrying out your own death sentence."

"…Not exactly. I'm creating my own personal insurance policy."

"…I don't understand."

"You've read the prophecy—the whole prophecy. What does it say after the bit about helping Lucifer to reimagine the cosmos in his own image?"

She thought for a moment, closing her eyes to concentrate. "It says…That if the half-breed doesn't side with Lucifer, it can destroy him. Not just send him back to the Cage, but kill him."

"Exactly."

"Wait, so…You're telling me you went to all this trouble, not to help Lucifer, but to kill him?"

"I already died once; I'd rather not do it again."

"Let me guess—you'd be in charge once he's out of the way?"

Crowley shrugged. "A fringe benefit. Don't worry, I won't do anything rash. I like things the way they are up here. It's much nicer than things downstairs. Without humans running around, we'd have no more souls to torture. More than that, though, demons are rubbish at creating. All the little Earthy pleasures—Scotch, for example, and Cuban cigars—would all be gone."

Marian took a minute to digest all of this. Then she took another minute. "You're not going to help Lucifer. Or destroy the world." She pushed away from him so that she could look him in the eye. "You just want to be in charge, so that things can keep…Happening."

"And in the meantime, Hell leaves me alone, because they think I'm working for them."

"But…Why wouldn't you just…Just tell the angels that, and they would—"

"Kill me? Oh yes, good plan. Any angel would smite me as soon as look at me. Even if I could get a word in edgewise, do you think they'd believe me? Would you have believed me, if I led with that?"

Marian blinked. "No." She sagged slightly, yawning, and curled back up against him. "I don't believe you now."

"You do, though." He ran his hand through her hair, and she leaned into his touch. "Or, maybe…You want to believe." He kissed the top of her head. His hand smoothed over the center of her back and she flinched as he ran over the symbol he'd carved earlier. "Sorry, love; I forgot that was there. Here; lie down and I can heal it."

She lay down on her stomach and the demon drew her shirt up to her shoulders; she shivered as cool air hit her back. He peeled off the bandaging and pressed his palm against the cut. Her skin tingled as the wounds scabbed over.

"I'm not going to heal it completely, so you'll still be protected for a few days. No sense in wasting a good thing."

Marian rolled her shoulders, trying to get a feel for how tender the area still was—to her surprise, she could barely feel it at all. "Thank you."

"Turn."

Oh. The one on her chest. Right. It took her a moment to work up the courage to flip onto her back, exposing her front to him. It didn't help that her arms were caught up in her shirt, limiting her movement; to free up her arms, she had to remove her shirt completely. He didn't do anything before, she reminded herself. He's not going to do anything to you now. Still, it was hard not to think back to those first few days with him, when he'd stripped her completely naked and groped her breasts. He's not like that anymore.

She twisted onto her back, holding her shirt in her hand like a little security blanket. Crowley's gaze lingered on her bare skin and bra for a moment, and then he was all business, gently peeling the bandage away and turning the raw cuts into half-healed scars. Marian went to put her shirt back on and he stopped her, telling her to roll onto her stomach again.

"You've had a long day dealing with your relatives. Mostly your mother." He thought for a moment. "And me, even though I was a perfect gentleman."

She jumped when her bra unhooked itself: Crowley brushed the straps aside and began kneading her shoulders, then worked his way down her back. It felt…Nice.

It felt very nice, actually, to be touched like this. She was still feeling uneasy being half-naked, but her nerves were settling as Crowley continued to work. There was Christmas music playing in the background (when had that happened?), which was familiar and relaxing. It felt like she was melting into the mattress: As long as he kept touching her, she was happy.

You should not be happy right now, her brain alerted her helpfully. You should not be enjoying this. Remember the Dark Side? Be mindful of your feelings, young Skywalker.

She cracked herself up just imagining herself as Luke Skywalker, facing off a Crowley version of Darth Vader, except instead of saying "I am your father" he would say "I am your lover." It wasn't really that funny, but she was so freaking tired, and couldn't stop herself from giggling.

Crowley paused with his hands on her lower back. "What?"

"Nothing, sorry. Just…You know when you're super tired, and your brain does weird things…I was just thinking about Star Wars."

"Ah, one of the great comedies," the demon said.

Marian giggled again. "It's not—It wasn't funny! I just…Ugh. I'm too tired to have normal human reactions to things right now."

"So I should just let you sleep?" Crowley replied, massaging up along her spine.

"Mmm," she said, though it was hard to tell if she was agreeing or just enjoying what he was doing.

Not enjoying, definitely not enjoying.

"Hey, Crowley…You can't read minds, right?"

He chuckled. "No, but I can often tell what you're feeling anyway. Why?"

"Why? 'Cause I don't like having anyone in my head. Got that too much as an angel." She yawned deeply, struggling to stay awake. "They can rewire your brain. Alter your memories, change your opinion. Must've done it to me dozens of times. They said I was so stubborn that the old stuff just grew back."

"Yes, you certainly have a stubborn side. It's…Rather endearing, now that I've gotten to know you." He moved her head so that her spine was straight and started massaging her neck. "It's no fun unless they fight back, anyway."

Marian tensed. "Thought I wasn't allowed to fight back," she mumbled into the mattress.

Crowley hesitated. "You—Well, technically I suppose that's true. If I'd done things any other way, you would have tried to kill me a thousand times by now. Not that that's not its own kind of fun, but I spend enough time avoiding assassination out there; it's nice to have one person in the universe I don't have to worry about stabbing me in the back. Though you could still try, I suppose, if you really wanted to break your deal."

His hands moved up into her hair, massaging her scalp. She didn't understand why she liked that so much, or why it made her feel all warm and tingly, but it did. She exhaled deeply in a long, contented sigh, leaning into his touch.

Crowley grinned: she may not love him yet, but it was a definitive "yet," meaning it was only a matter of time. Who would have thought the secret to getting people to like you was being kind to them? Sure, it was harder than torture, which he was naturally good at; but the more he grew to care about her, the easier it became. When she sighed happily, a tingle ran up his arms and down his spine. The Hell was that? Some kind of half-angel mojo? It felt good, not like anything he'd felt as a demon: He felt…Cared for. Appreciated. No one in Hell appreciated him. No one on Earth had appreciated him, either. Granted, he was a worthless drunk at the time, but still…He deserved to be loved, right?

He needed to be loved. Gods, this whole 'feelings' thing was going to be the death of him. He wasn't thinking straight anymore, he knew that: When Marian's human 'mother' had been yammering on about letting her be free, he'd started to find himself agreeing with her. But why would he throw away the thing he wanted most? He couldn't release her from her deal: he loved her. If he didn't like her, then sure, he could get rid of her. Let her be some other demon's problem.

"You know I can't let you go."

Marian wasn't sure what had brought that statement on. "Go where?"

"Your mother was under the impression that if I really cared about you, I should release you from our contract."

"Oh. Well, yeah, she's my mother; she's going to try to protect me. She's only human."

"I can protect you," Crowley said, kneading her shoulders. "If I let you go, every demon in Hell and Earth will come looking for you. They will destroy everything you ever loved, and when they find you—because they will find you, no amount of sigils and spells will keep Lucifer from his prize—I can guarantee you won't find another demon like me. What happened with Lester will seem like a vacation compared to the lifetime of rape and torture they will put you through."

As he spoke, Marian curled into a tight ball, crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to keep her unhooked bra in place. "I know!" she snapped, her voice wavering. Damn, she was too tired for this crap right now. "I know," she repeated much softer. "I'm sorry. You've been kind to me, and I don't always appreciate it because I'm too focused on you owning me." She startled as she felt her bra re-clasp itself across her back, relaxing her arms when she realized her cleavage was no longer in danger of popping out. "And yeah, I have thought about trying to break our deal before, 'cause having my life controlled by a demon isn't exactly ideal. But if my options are you or any other demon, I'd rather stick with you."

Crowley laid down beside her, pulling a blanket up to her shoulders and wrapping his arm around her waist. It was…Uncomfortable, being in this position with just her bra as a top, but she supposed she'd gotten used to everything else he'd thrown at her; this really wasn't any worse.

"My little fallen angel." He kissed her shoulder, sending a shiver down her spine. "Get some sleep, love."