AN: A special shout out to Melissa627 We obviously think too much alike! I had already written a Tombstone movie night for this chapter, including commentary from Parker on the horses, when Melissa627 recommended the very same things. However, Meslissa627 deserves full credit for the coffee cup recommendation. Thank you for the brilliant idea!

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CHAPTER 7

Trick or Treat

Eliot was a little surprised to see Carmine sitting quietly in the middle of the van. On second thought though he supposed that in Carmine's place he'd have done the same. Hardison was sitting behind Carmine, and he was letting his wolf show. His eyes were yellow, and his fangs peeked out from between his lips. Parker was sitting in the front passenger seat but was turned around to face Carmine. She was smiling one of her most maniacal grins and had her stunner in hand.

Eliot slid into the driver's seat and looked at Carmine in the rearview mirror. "So, Carmine, how'd you end up here? At the gym I mean."

"Did my mothers tell you about Casper Ghould?"

"Yes."

"He cornered me on my way back from a delivery run. I had crossed the river to make the delivery but before I could reach Morrison Bridge on my way back, Ghould found me. He said he would drown Josette like he had Vivian all those years ago. He said he would do… terrible things… to Alexandra. But if I stayed away, he would leave them alone."

"So you ran." Eliot arched an eyebrow.

Carmine gave him a small shrug. "What else could I do? I agreed to stay away as long as he left them alone. But just as I turned to leave something sharp scratched across my wrist and I saw my band drop to the ground. It's the last thing I remember before he" Carmine nodded at Hardison. "put the band on my wrist in the gym."

~~o0o~~

Eliot found a place to park a block or so from the witches' apothecary shop. The block party was still going, and Eliot could hear Chrissa's laugh as he stepped out of the van. He walked next to Carmine and Parker followed close behind with a stunner tucked into her coat sleeve. Hardison kept pace on Parker's other side.

"You don't need to walk me home." Carmine commented with a small smile at Eliot.

"Yah, we do." Eliot tried to keep a pleasant expression on his face so that they wouldn't attract extra attention.

An old woman that Eliot recognized from the block party came up to them, and stepping past Eliot, she pulled Carmine into a hug. "Carmine! We've been so worried. Erlinda and I were just saying how we hadn't seen you around in a while."

"Everything's fine Mrs. Fisk. I was just a little under the weather but I'm feeling much better now." He gave the old woman's arm a pat as he stepped away.

As they came to the door to the apothecary shop Eliot turned to Parker and Hardison. "Wait here."

"If you aren't out soon, we'll come looking." Hardison held Parker's shoulders while he looked at Eliot.

Eliot gave Parker's arm a pat and followed Carmine into the shop. The bell above the door jingled, announcing their presence. Eliot watched as Josette made her way from the back room to the counter. She was wrapped in a thick shawl and her complexion was a sickly grey. He noticed the double image he was used to seeing on the witches was faint. Her witch aspect was more of a shadow and was hard to really make out.

"Joey!" Carmine hurried around the counter and pulled Josette into a hug. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Josette looked at Eliot. "The wahya is clever." She studied Carmine's face for a moment and cupped his cheek. "We'll be fine. It's so good to have you home." She hugged him tenderly and with a pat to his shoulder sent him to the back of the shop. "Go check on Alex. She'll be so relieved to see you well."

Eliot watched as Carmine disappeared through a door at the back. "The boy is right. You don't look well."

"The prayers of the righteous avail much." She murmured. "We haven't had so many blessings prayed over us since the very first Christian church was established in Portland in 1840."

Eliot couldn't help the half smile. "I doubt it makes a difference, but we weren't trying to make you uncomfortable. We are trying to stop the ghoul."

"Most people don't believe in ghouls anymore." She returned his half smile.

"Julio's flock knows who's in charge. They don't worry about who isn't and that makes all the difference."

"So this is how you will get rid of Ghould? Prayers and feasting?"

"It's a good start but there is more to take care of. We'll be in touch when everything is done."

"May your god bless you whaya." Josette shivered and pulled her shawl a little tighter.

"All the time." Eliot smiled as he headed out of the shop. He knew that from Josette's perspective, that was the kindest and meanest thing she could tell him in parting, and he thought that suited her double nature well.

. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .

Trey had come by to make sure that Charlie was okay and to check out the damage to the door. Quinn had bent the bolt for the door just enough before Trey got there that they were able to close and lock the door, if only by a hair's breadth. Trey, after checking out the door, told Charlie that she should lock up and go home whenever she was ready.

After Trey drove off, Quinn turned to Charlie. "What's got you so stubborn about staying late tonight?"

She fidgeted a moment on her stool before she stood, biting a fingernail, and walked around the desk. "I beat that guy tonight. And Eliot's right I'm not a victim, but it feels like…" She huffed. "Like if I leave then I'm letting him win anyway. Like he made me leave."

Quinn nodded. He knew all about needing to feel in control of his environment and himself. "So what's it gonna take to make you feel safe? To make you feel in control?"

She shrugged one shoulder.

"How about we work out for a bit? That usually helps settle my nerves after a fight."

She looked him up and down. "You're going to work out in your suit?"

"Told you, I've done some of my best work in my suit." He pulled off his suit jacket, tossing it on the stool behind the counter, and rolled up his sleeves.

~~o0o~~

Charlie followed Quinn's direction and parked her car next to his Hellcat in front of the loading dock.

"Thanks for staying with me." She gave him a smile as she unlocked the doors.

"No problem." He patted her hand as he reached for the door handle.

"Maybe you could come by the gym tomorrow night?" She didn't want him to leave yet but she had no good reason for him to stay.

"We'll see." He winked as he got out of the car.

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Atsutsa slid quietly over the back fence. He could be nearly silent when he wanted to be. He darted across the small yard and found a drain for the gutter that led to the roof. He skittered up it and paused. He listened for a moment but no one in the house moved.

He caught the scent of blood on the wind, and he licked at his fingernails. The werewolf across the street hadn't seen him coming and had been an easy kill. He wanted revenge for what had been done to his mothers but Eliot Spencer and his pack were too much to take on all at once. This was better. The Alpha would suffer and Atsutsa and his mothers would have time to leave before the Alpha ever figured it out.

He crept across the roof until he came to the gable at the front of the house. With a long jagged fingernail, he was able to trip the window latch. He could hear the shower running as he slid the window up. The woman that belonged to the Alpha had no idea he was there. He smiled as he slid under her bed.

He didn't have long to wait before he saw her feet pad, bare and vulnerable, across the carpet to the side of the bed. He wanted to lunge, to bite at her legs but restrained himself. He could feel her settle into the bed above him and a cruel smile curled across his face. He counted to one hundred after she'd turned off the bedside lamp. It would have been better, more terrifying, if the room had been dark but he could clearly see a nightlight in the shape of a wolf plugged into the wall. He couldn't help the growl at the sight of the wolf.

The woman startled and Atsutsa knew he couldn't wait any longer. With a speed gifted to him by his mothers he skittered out from under the bed and leapt. He landed on the woman, and she screamed. He hissed at her before he started to savage her with his ragged nails. He…

Eliot woke with a scream. His blood was pounding in his ears and the adrenaline, and the images still flashing across his mind, were making him sick. He was breathing like he'd sprinted for miles.

As his hands clenched and relaxed in the comforter he could see where his claws had shredded the fabric. The door to his room swung open and he growled. He caught Quinn's scent at the door and his wolf relaxed fractionally but the warning growl was still rumbling in his chest.

"It was just a nightmare." Quinn came in hands up. "I don't know what you were dreaming but I can tell it was bad." He kept his tone soothing and moved slow. He felt a nudge at his back and by the time he turned to look, Parker was past him.

Quinn would never have tried to do what Parker had just done. He didn't know if it was crazy, or trust, or a wild combination of both but she flung herself at Eliot and wrapped herself around his chest.

Eliot closed his yellow eyes and gently wrapped Parker in a hug burying his face in her neck. She rubbed his back and muttered soothingly. His claws shifted back to fingernails and when he rested his chin on her shoulder, Quinn could see that his eyes were blue, and his teeth were human again.

Quinn moved to sit on the other side of the bed. His wolf felt the need to be near his Alpha, to be a comfort. Quinn reached out and gripped the back of Eliot's neck. It was a gesture that Eliot often used with him when Quinn had had a nightmare, and he'd always found it to be comforting.

Eliot could feel Quinn and his wolf trying to comfort him and it soothed his wolf, soothed him. He wrapped an arm around Quinn's shoulders.

"Room for one more?" Hardison asked as he came through the door.

Eliot scooted a little closer to Quinn without disturbing Parker who was still wrapped around him. He held an arm out and Hardison joined the rest of them.

After a few minutes when Eliot's pulse was no longer racing and everyone had settled, Parker leaned back a little and framed Eliot's face with her hands. "So what happened?"

"The boy killed Gemma." Immediately Eliot's pulse jumped, and his breathing picked up. "She was terrified. I couldn't … and she…"

"Hang on. We gotchu." Hardison gripped Eliot's shoulder. He spotted Eliot's phone on the nightstand and grabbed it up. He tapped at it for a moment and then they all heard the ring on the other side.

Eliot's eyes flashed yellow. "No. It's late." He reached for the phone but there was no way he could get it back from Hardison without disturbing everyone and probably not without a real order even then.

"Hhhmm? El?" Gemma's sleepy voice came over the speaker.

"Gemma, it's Hardison."

They all heard her gasp and Eliot glared at Hardison.

"It's okay. Eliot's fine. He's right here actually."

"Okay?" She sounded much more awake.

"He just needs to know that you're okay. He didn't want to disturb you, but I didn't think you'd mind." Hardison handed the phone to Eliot.

"Gemma, I'm sorry we woke you."

"It's okay. Did you have a bad dream?"

"Yah, it was bad."

"Well, I'm okay and … just a second…." They could hear the smile in her voice and a door open and close. "I'm standing at the top of the stairs, and I can hear Ms. Teo snoring, so she's fine too." The door opened and closed again. "We're all okay."

"Thank you." Eliot couldn't help the purr that rumbled in his chest for a second. "You go back to sleep."

"Have good dreams, and call me in the morning."

She hung up before he could answer, and he watched the screen until Gemma's picture disappeared.

"Thanks." Eliot handed the phone back to Hardison. He scooted back a little so that he could lean against the headboard and settled with a smile as everyone settled with him. He wouldn't have asked them to stay but a pack nap was just what he and his wolf needed right now. He started to drift back to sleep with the sounds and the feel of his pack around him. He could even feel Nate and Sophie despite the fact that the bonds told him they were far away.

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It took Hardison nearly a week to tie up all of the loose ends after the block party and the prayer walk. No one had seen Ghould during or after the party. Hardison had arranged a wellness check by the police on Ghould's residence, which had turned up nothing. Casper Ghould was officially a missing person. Fortunately, for Three Sisters Apothecary, Leverage Inc. was now the primary owner of the properties formerly held by Ghould so no one was pressuring them to leave.

Hardison was madly trying to find tenants for the business spaces and for the existing apartments that Ghould had cleared out before his mysterious disappearance. Eliot's only stipulation was 'no businesses directed at kids' in the business fronts that they now owned in that neighborhood. He didn't want to tempt the witches into their old ways. And he didn't want to expose helpless children to the witches.

Quinn had still been frequenting Treyson's gym in the evenings even though the boy was no longer terrorizing the place. Knowing glances and smiles were traded throughout the pack every time he left to go to the gym, but no one said anything. Quinn could feel the emotions zip through the bonds as well but chose to ignore them.

~~o0o~~

The night before Halloween Eliot was helping Julio set up things in their storefront church for the Fall Festival that the church was hosting on Halloween.

"Hardison got everything wrapped up?" Julio asked as he stacked a folding chair against the wall.

"Yep." Eliot moved the podium to the wall as well. "Ghould still hasn't shown up. I'm thinking that whatever bound the witches to their place didn't protect the ghoul. I think had they not been bound there they might have fled as well. The one witch I saw was looking pretty sick that night."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that." Julio frowned.

Eliot huffed. "I'm maybe less conflicted than you." He tried to decide how he really felt about the whole thing. "I don't know. I saw the things that they did and a part of me is glad to see them suffer but then I remember some of the things I've done and maybe I'm the one that deserves to suffer."

"The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is life through Christ Jesus." Julio patted Eliot's shoulder as he headed for another set of chairs. "It's easy to judge. It's harder to take responsibility. I think keeping in mind that we all fall short, is what keeps us from getting too full of ourselves."

They stacked the rest of the chairs to the side in companionable silence. Eliot checked his watch and knew he needed to get back in time for movie night.

"I been wondering something." Julio frowned and scrunched his hands in his pockets.

Eliot raised an eyebrow.

"It's not really my business but I wondered what all of this has done to what you believe."

"What do you mean?"

"Well this whole thing with the witches. Has it changed how you look at things? What you think about God?"

"You're wondering if finding out that the monsters from the native stories are real has made me change my mind about God? You're wondering if I'll abandon the faith and do something else?" Eliot smiled and sat on the edge of the stage and Julio sat next to him. "Has it changed what you believe?"

"Me?" Julio looked surprised. "No. But I've always believed that there are witches and demons, and all sorts of other agents of evil. But I wasn't raised with the idea that they might come from somewhere else or belong to some other set of gods that might be real."

"I was raised by my Baptist mama, and she wouldn't have tolerated the idea of other gods being real either."

"Yah, but you just came face to face with one of those stories and found out the people in it are real."

"I am one of the stories." Eliot laughed a little. "Couple hundred years ago people thought that werewolves were demons sent from Hell." He smiled at the chagrined look on Julio's face. "I think I got room in my theology for a couple more monsters and it hasn't changed the truth. That's the thing about truth, it just is. It doesn't matter if you like it or not or how much you want something else to be true, truth is truth."

"I may have to quote you on that some Sunday." Julio chuckled and Eliot snorted.

Julio dusted off his pants as he got up. "You better get home. I know it's movie night and the pack is waiting."

Eliot smiled as he headed for the door.

He'd only made it a block or so before he felt like he was being watched. He reached up to lift the collar on his jacket and tossed his hair back. He used the motions to get a look at his surroundings without being obvious. He didn't see anyone near the alley or on the fire escapes.

He decided to drop the pretense of not noticing he was being watched and he turned to have a more careful look. There was nothing along the rooflines and no one on the street behind him.

The feeling was persistent as he headed back to the pub. Even when he circled the wrong block three times, he still couldn't spot who was watching him. His paranoia wouldn't let him really believe it was just paranoia that was making him feel he was being watched but with no evidence that it was anything more than that he headed home to the pub.

~~o0o~~

Parker had given him a ration about being late for movie night, but fresh carmel kettle corn had stopped the fussing and they'd all settled in to watch Tombstone, one of Quinn's favorites.

Eliot had been keeping an eye on the rooflines across the street from the pub throughout the movie. The feeling of being watched still hadn't left him. He knew his pack was picking up on his unease when he caught Quinn glancing out the windows from time to time.

As McMaster's corpse was being drug back to Wyatt Earp on the big screen, Eliot noticed the flit of feathers past the edge of the window. A low growl rumbled in his chest and Parker shifted from where she was leaning on him to look at his face.

"Everything okay?" She whispered.

He nodded and kissed the top of her head as he looked back at the screen.

The movie wrapped up and Parker slid over the back of the couch and hurried toward the kitchen island.

"So, what did you guys think?" Quinn stretched, rolling his head side to side.

"Scariest Halloween movie I've ever seen!" Parker's eyes were wide.

Quinn sent a confused look to Hardison. "It was a western."

"People were dressed funny and there were soooo many horses. Just sooooo many horses everywhere." Parker scooted closer to Hardison who pulled her into his side.

"What I wanna know is how they twirl them guns like that?" Hardison mimed a quick draw.

"Here." Quinn tossed Hardison a coffee cup.

Hardison barely managed to catch it and looked at Quinn, waiting to see what Quinn was up to.

"Like this." Quinn held a coffee cup at his hip with a finger through the handle. He swung it up and let the mug twirl around his finger before gripping it with the rest of his hand.

Hardison tried to copy Quinn, but the mug shot off of his finger and shattered against one of the beams above the kitchen. They all flinched away from the shower of broken pottery pieces.

"Hey, that was an accident." Hardison grinned. "Let me have another try."

Quinn tossed Hardison another mug.

Hardison tried again and this time the mug flew at Quinn's face. Quinn barely managed to catch the mug before it smashed into his cheek. "And that right there is why we're never giving you a gun."

"Alright, all y'all get outta my kitchen before you destroy the place." Eliot shooed them all away before he grabbed his broom. When the popcorn bowls had been rounded up and cleaned, he made his way to the rooftop garden.

He sat on a chair under the pergola and let his wolf come to the fore. With the wolf's extra heat, the chill night air felt good sliding over his exposed skin. He waited until he heard the near silent brush of feathers in the air above him before he spoke.

He didn't look up at where the owl was perched above him. "Josette, this better be the last time I ever see Vivian's owl anywhere near me or my pack. We finished the job. You all are safe where you are, and we will not expose you. But if I see Vivian's owl again, I will kill it and I will destroy her eye. My uncle made sure to tell me that part of the story as well." He looked up then, with yellow wolf eyes, and stared at the owl that stared back at him.

The owl nodded at him in a very human gesture before it took flight.

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"Trick or Treat!" a chorus of little voices shouted before they ran up the stairs to collect candy from Janell.

"That's it? Really?" Parker looked questioningly at Hardison. "They don't need to steal it or run through a laser grid or anything?"

Hardison chuckled and rubbed Parker's arm where he was holding her into his side. "Yep, that's it. Although the laser thing sounds pretty cool. Maybe we could rig up something fun for next year." They were leaning against the railing for the outdoor seating and watching the kids make their way up the stairs to where Janell sat with her candy bowl.

"Hardison?" Quinn called from the door of the pub. "What's the name of that candy crap you made?"

"Spooky Sweet Ale, and it ain't crap." He rolled his eyes. "It's for discerning palates."

"You mean people with no sense of taste." Quinn came out to join them on the porch.

"Is Eliot still complaining about the Halloween specials?" Hardison asked as Quinn leaned against the rail.

"He said that if he ever has to use candy corn as a garnish again that he might burn the pub to the ground first." Quinn smiled as he sipped from a beer bottle that didn't contain any of Hardison's special brew.

"I'm glad he's happy." Parker snuggled into Hardison's side.

"Me too." Hardison kissed the top of her head. "Man's just not happy if he ain't snarlin' about somethin' in the kitchen." He let a small smile spread across his mouth.

~~o0o~~

Hours later after all the kids had gone home and the pub had closed, Hardison and Parker made their way up to bed. There was a small gift bag with a picture of Frankenstein's monster on it, hanging from their bedroom door.

Parker stared at it for a moment. "Is it a trick or a treat?"

"Smells like Quinn so it could go either way." Hardison smiled and nudged Parker forward.

Parker peered into the bag. "oooh! Candy!" She rummaged in the bag as they walked into their room. "Here, these are for you." She handed a package of gummy frogs to Hardison.

He smiled and slit the bag open with a claw tip. He popped a gummy frog into his mouth and chewed with a smile.

"I love peanut butter cups!" Parker stuffed an entire cup into her mouth.

"Slow down babe." Hardison smiled and kissed a smudge of chocolate off of her cheek.

He tossed the next gummy into his mouth and started to chew, and chew, and chew. He finally spit the mangled gummy into his hand and looked at it closely. The frog was rubber. "What in the world?"

"Ouch!"

Hardison forgot the rubber frog and looked over to see what had happened to Parker. If Quinn had done something that hurt Parker, they'd be having words shortly.

"There's a gold coin in my candy." Parker frowned in confusion. "Does that make it a trick or a treat?"

They could feel Quinn's amusement through the bonds.

"Which ever one makes you happy." Hardison pulled her down onto the bed next to him. "Happy Halloween babe."

"And to all a good night." Parker smiled into his shoulder.

"Wrong holiday." He kissed the top of her head.

She smiled as she felt Hardison drifting to sleep next to her.

~The End~