"And these details just happened to slip your mind?"

Adam stared out the window, teeth grinding together, every part of him completely itching for some reason. He didn't like it, not one bit. Lying felt so wrong, and it was taking just about every bit of his strength at this point. But, it was necessary, and it was working. Bela had turned the car around, and although she was fuming, they were heading back to her penthouse instead, probably to think up another game plan. The demon hesitated a little, sparing a glance at the woman beside him. She was livid, and her eyes were black, but otherwise, she seemed surprisingly composed. If it weren't for the death glares she'd been shooting him for the past half hour, and the way her voice distorted sometimes, he wouldn't even know she was mad.

He licked his lips, fully aware that this chick could put him six feet under in an instant, and carefully chose his next words over. He'd already fed her some tale about the boys being off on a hunt somewhere, far away from Kansas - and he hated how easily the lie had slipped from his lips, too - all that was left was leading her away. "Yeah, well…" He trailed off, looking away. "Sorry? I don't pay that much attention to the Winchesters, y'know. Details like that are easy to forget." He set his jaw and swallowed, closing his eyes. He never thought he'd long for the Cage, but to be completely honest, right then, he regretted ever leaving it at all.

Bela made a low sound in the back of her throat, a mix of a scoff and a growl, but she didn't say a word. Just took a sharp turn, scowled, and continued driving. Adam grimaced and screwed his eyes shut, already knowing that she was going to make the rest of this car drive absolute hell for him. He wrapped his arms around himself and leaned his head back, sighing. Well, now was as good a time as any to check on Michael's… Michael's… emotions…

… oh, boy, that couldn't be good.

The demon's eyes flew open at once, inhaling sharply. Oh, yeah, he was pissed. He had never felt such anger from the archangel, such a burning, fiery, passionate kind of rage. He couldn't deny that it had his heart pumping in his chest a little bit quicker, sticking up in his throat, chest restricting, his breathing ceasing completely. The amount of fury was blinding, deafening, spiraling, and it rooted him right to the seat, paralyzed, unable to move, even a twitch of his fingers, a blink of his eyes. And then, just as quickly as it had flared up, it began to dissolve, to numb, shifting into something else; Contempt.

He knew, at once, what was happening.

There was only one being in the world who could make Michael so angry, only one being in the world he would feel such complete, utter scorn, such disdain for. It had to be Chuck - and there was only one way he'd be feeling the emotions so strongly, as well. He was facing his Father. He had gotten there, he had gotten to Chuck, and Adam's anxiety exploded right then and there. He should have known Michael would keep going. He should never have gone with Bela in the first place, and now he was stuck here, while Michael was the one stuck with Chuck.

The demon bared his teeth and hissed, looking back out the window, finally able to pull himself out of the rage. But his own was steadily boiling up, directed at nobody but himself. There was nothing he would like more than to be back with the archangel, facing this with him, and the idea of him going through all of this alone just wasn't cutting it for him. Somehow, he had to find a way to get back there, and to dodge Bela in the process; And something was telling him that wasn't going to be easy at all. The demon in question looked over at him, bewildered, intrigued, eyebrows raising slightly as she stared at him, but she seemed too angry to care enough to ask.

Good. Adam didn't feel like answering any more questions right then.

Adam just wrapped his arms even tighter around himself and stayed silent, eyes fixed out the window, his chest aching with all of the emotions swirling on both his side and Michael's. They seemed a little stronger now, as if the connection between them had strengthened - and, oh, god, good, maybe some use could come out of it. He felt completely helpless.

He didn't move, and neither of them spoke, until they had returned to the penthouse. Bela didn't say a word to him - she was likely still fuming. Adam didn't blame her, but he had to do what he had to do to keep his family safe. All of his family; And that included Sam and Dean, along with Michael. The demon got out of the car just as quietly, stoic despite the anxiety writhing around in his chest and anxious despite the calm mask written across his face. Yes, Adam was a lot of different things right now, and he was lying with a lot more than his words, because he most certainly was not as calm as he would appear at first glance.

Bela retreated at once when they were inside, toward the bathroom, so Adam had to guess she was either showering or simply changing out of the dress. Lucky her, the demon grumbled a little as went to pour himself some wine. All he had to change into were more tuxedos, and he most certainly wasn't going to bother with that. He'd get himself something else later, steal a few suits from the store when she wasn't all up in his business. To be honest though, as angry as she was at him, he doubted his fashion sense was on her mind right then at all.

He downed the wine in just a few swallows, finding himself wishing, for the first time, that he did have a little bit of his humanity left. Or at least enough to get drunk off his ass. God knows he needed it - and, hell, he probably really did know, the scheming bastard… Frowning, the demon poured himself another glass and downed it again just as fast, then let out a low sigh and sank back into the chair beside the stand, glaring down into the empty cup with a frown. He didn't know how to get back to Michael, he didn't know how to get back to Chuck, he was stuck with this crazy bitch who could literally snap and kill him at any given second… yeah, really no different than being with Chuck, to be completely honest. Except, oh yeah. Michael.

The demon poured another glass, downed it, and repeated. Maybe if he drank mass amounts, it would start to have some kind of effect on him. Just enough to get him buzzed, maybe…

He was getting… tired. Really damn tired. In more ways than one. Sighing, Adam pushed himself up, stumbling a little bit in the process - nope, not drunk, just exhausted as hell. Then again, he wasn't sure how much he trusted sleep with a psycho crazy demon bitch loose in the house, so sleep wasn't much of an option. Rubbing his eyes, he set the glass down and took a few steps toward the doorway - only to pause and retreat again, just slightly. Then he started pacing. Slowly at first, almost hesitantly, before picking up the pace just a little, bringing his arms up around himself and closing his eyes. He understood why Michael did it; It was calming.

Closing his eyes, he started thinking. Thinking about Chuck, the house, Bela's appearance. It was all too sudden for his liking, and Adam… Adam was anything but dumb. He knew it had been too easy from the get-go, but, of course, he had just been more focused on getting back to Michael to see it clearly before. Now, though? Oh, he could see it clear as day. Maybe he didn't have all the details, maybe there were still some things to figure out; But was Chuck, God, really that stupid to leave him alone like that? And how would he not know someone was there? He should be able to know these things, to sense these things - He was God, after all, weak or not. No, something much bigger was at play here, and whatever it was, Bela was a part of it.

Whether she was being used, manipulated, controlled - or whether she was working alongside Chuck, however, that was still a fact that remained to be seen. So Adam had to be especially careful here, at least until he could figure out everything else. And until then, he had to keep a very, very strong distance, because he had a feeling this wasn't just going to stop with Bela. Whatever Chuck was planning here, whatever was going on…

No, Adam wasn't stupid. Not stupid enough.

He had to wonder, though, how much of Bela's story was real. The ring - the ring, that supposedly held the power of God. Or if maybe that was just a way to lure him in even further. The demon blinked his eyes open and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then looked down. That numbing anger from Michael's side had vanished completely, softening into something a little more docile - and yet, something was much different. The submission, the passiveness that the archangel usually displayed, it seemed to have vanished all at once. There wasn't any anger left, but the contempt had remained, the disdain, and something even stronger pulsing below the surface. Despite himself, Adam couldn't help a small smile, because it was much more strength than the demon had been expecting, but just as much strength as Adam had always known he had deep down inside. He just wished he could be there to experience it, too.

The demon sighed and faltered to a stop, looking up at the ceiling. He had an advantage over Bela - or at least, he hoped so. With the chance that Bela was just being manipulated, controlled by Chuck with no real knowledge of what was going on - Adam could definitely use that. Hell, he might even be able to snap Bela out of it himself. Maybe she wasn't really the bad guy here - just like Lucifer, right? Adam rubbed his arm, looking toward the doorway for a moment.

He had to wonder what Michael would do in this situation.

The archangel would be cautious, of course. Careful. Consider the possible outcomes, consider what was going on. But, if Adam knew his friend, and he did know his friend, Michael would fixate on the possibility that Bela was being manipulated. Of course he would consider the fact that Bela already knew everything, but just the idea that she may be controlled by Chuck would be enough to make the archangel soften, to make him give her a chance. And he would try to fix it, to pull her out of whatever 'spell' Chuck had on her, to get her out of the situation she was in, help her break free of the chains that Michael had once been wrapped up in himself. He'd be compassionate and understanding, cautious but kind. Adam didn't know if he could do that. He didn't know how much like Michael he could be - but he'd be damned if he wasn't willing to try.

With that said, he wasn't going to be all chick-flick-moments and puppy-dog eyes. No, if he was going to 'fix' this, then he was going to do so in his own way. Do what Michael would do, but do it like Adam. The demon bit his lip and nodded a little to himself, turning to pick up the glass again and pour himself some more whiskey. He did so a little reluctantly this time, honestly kind of convinced that it might be making him even more tired than he already was.

He looked up when Bela finally entered the room. She looked a lot calmer now, eyes back to normal, arms folded across her chest, her expression completely relaxed. She had changed out of the dress, wearing instead a red low-cut top, jeans, and boots. The demon furrowed his eyebrows slightly, watching her for a moment before ripping his gaze away and downing the rest of his glass, letting out a low, barely-audible groan in the back of his throat. This was gonna be a long day. And he was that much more exhausted already.

"Okay," Bela spoke up after a few moments, striding over to the stand and grabbing a glass. Instead of grabbing the wine, however, she went straight for a bottle of champagne - and Adam stopped, watching, realizing exactly what it was before she had even opened it. Strawberry. The woman hardly waited for the glass to fill before she brought it to her lips and downed it. Then, clearing her throat, she spun around to face Adam, eyes narrowing. "What are they hunting?"

Adam blinked at her, unable to help but wonder how, exactly, that was relevant at all. "Ghouls," he replied, somewhat numbly. It was the first thing that popped into his head, and it was the first thing that had left his lips during his earlier explanation. He didn't know why - he hated the word. He hated those monsters. "In, uh… Minnesota, I think." The demon clicked his teeth together. Lying still made him feel bad. Dirty, on the inside and out. He wanted to get into the shower and scrub until he bled, to be completely honest, until the stupid guilt went away already.

Bela stared at him for a moment, silent, then simply poured herself another glass and downed it just as fast as before. Adam stared at her, flicking his gaze to the bottle every so often.

"Alright, Minnesota." Bela cleared her throat, putting the bottle down. Adam let his gaze linger on it for a moment, but he glanced back at the other demon when she spoke up again. "That's fine… this is fine…" The woman paused, green eyes narrowing slightly toward Adam. "Right?"

Adam blinked back at her, silent for a moment, then forced a hesitant smile in response. "Yeah, totally fine," he agreed, downing the rest of his wine and stepping forward, reaching for the bottle of champagne now instead. Bela glanced over at his hand, but she didn't say a word, flicking her gaze back up to his face almost immediately. Her mouth twisted, lips pressing into a thin, neutral line as she stared at him. "We could probably catch up with them… or," he added, a little slower, eyes narrowing faintly in consideration. "Or, we could track Crowley instead."

"No," Bela muttered simply, and Adam grimaced slightly, but he couldn't really say he was surprised by the disagreement. Unfortunately, though, it was definitely enough confirmation that she wasn't just out for the ring, otherwise she'd have agreed. No, she wanted the Winchesters. For whatever reason, she wanted the Winchesters. Whether for revenge, or for some greater plan - whatever the reason. Bela narrowed her eyes, watching him. Again, like he was some kind of puzzle she was trying to figure out. He wondered if she could see that he was doing the same thing, studying her, trying to understand, to put all the pieces together.

Then, finally, heaving out a sigh, Bela merely sighed and looked back down at Adam's glass, watching the demon pour the champagne up to the rim. He didn't even bother getting another cup - there hadn't been enough wine mixed in for it to make a difference, and even if there was, he couldn't give a damn anyway. He took a sip, licking his lips, before downing half the glass. And, sighing, he put the bottle down - and Bela reached out for it to pour herself some more.

"So we'll just catch up to them in Minnesota," the other demon was mumbling to herself, downing a few more swallows of the champagne, but not draining her glass quite yet. Adam watched her, a faint frown tugging at his lips. "Shouldn't be too hard to figure out their location, considering that they're on a hunt. All we have to do is follow the monster…"

Adam let out a low hum in the back of his throat and didn't respond, hesitating a little bit at that. Yeah, the fact that there wasn't really a ghoul hunt to look into would definitely hinder those plans - and raise some suspicion - but he would cross that bridge when it came to it. If need be, he'd simply pass it off as him just being wrong about the location after all. But he wasn't sure how much he could lie before the other demon did catch on. Or how long this would take. The demon grimaced slightly, and lifted the glass back to his lips to hide it.

"You don't have a problem with that, do you?" Bela asked, innocent on the surface, but her green eyes were narrowed and direct, staring straight at him. Great, she was already looking for ulterior motives - Adam was definitely a little rusty on the whole 'lying' thing.

"Why would I?" The demon narrowed his eyes slightly at the woman, eyebrows raising, head tilting. Not equally innocent, by any means, but completely inquiring. "According to you, I'm not running from something, am I? Definitely not from the Winchesters. Believe me, I want to get back to them more than you want to find this ring." Boy, was that the truth, and it was one of the first he had been able to speak since the car. Bela held his gaze for a while, thinking.

But, if nothing else, she seemed to accept that as the truth. Because it was the truth, if nothing else. The demon grunted and looked back down, sipping from her glass once again, and Adam relaxed once again, shifting himself back to lean against the wall and crossing one leg over the other, wrapping one arm around himself and bringing the glass back to his lips. They stood there in silence for a while, both of them lost in their own thoughts, before Bela cleared her throat and straightened up, downing the rest of what was in her glass and leaving the room. Adam watched her go, quiet, then turned away once more and finished off his own champagne.

He looked down into his glass for a moment, contemplating, but looked up again when Bela returned to the room, cracking her knuckles, her glass gone. "So, Minnesota… It'll take more time to get there than it would have taken to get to Kansas… Are you finished?" The other demon mumbled, pausing beside him. Adam glanced over, and she gave him a pointed look, then nodded to the glass. The demon paused, looking over at the bottle of champagne, then reluctantly handed the cup over to her. It certainly wasn't getting him drunk, and he was tired. "Good. Put some foil on the bottle, would you? Anyway, as I was saying… bit of an inconvenience, but I'll work with it." She spun around, leaving the room again.

Adam paused and rubbed his eyes, scanning the stand for the foil she'd been talking about. It took him a moment to find it, his vision blurry with exhaustion, but he did as told, folding it over the opening of the bottle and placing it back in the bucket of ice, just in time as Bela entered the room again, drying her hands off on a rag. She slowed a bit as she passed him, sparing a glance up at the demon; He looked down, catching her gaze.

She stopped in front of him, her eyes not moving from his, and he paused slightly, watching the colors burst to life again. The blues and greys - he knew, in some cases, it was normal for someone to have so many different colors in their eyes, but hers were just completely vibrant. It was certainly something to look at - definitely intriguing. He found himself staring longer than he would have liked to admit, and she wasn't moving her own gaze anytime soon.

Finally, clearing his throat, the demon forced his lips to move, struggling to get the words out. "So when are we leaving?" He asked, steady and simple, holding her gaze.

"Oh, soon," Bela replied vaguely, head tilting to the side as she watched him. She turned completely to face him, as well, chin raising just a little bit as she folded the rag over her hands and quirked an eyebrow. "I'd just like to be sure you're confident of Sam and Dean's location this time before we actually set off on the road." Her mouth twitched, a dry smile threatening to brew at the surface. "With your faulty sense of memory and all."

So they were back to this - well, at least she wasn't pissed at him anymore. He couldn't stop his lips from twitching in time, in response, curling upwards at one corner into a very faint half-smirk as he flicked his gaze away from her, just for a second. Faulty sense of memory - sure. But, he'd play along. "Probably a good idea," he murmured. "Actually, come to think of it…"

"What?" Bela huffed, the sound a mixture of a laugh and a sigh. Adam brought his gaze back to her, his smirk widening ever so slightly at the amused yet irritated look flickering through those sharp green eyes. "Don't tell me, they're actually up in the North Pole?"

"Mm." Adam raised an eyebrow at her, unable to keep the grin off his face now. And he didn't even know why it was so easy to smile like this around her, so easy to tease and joke and taunt. It was only like this with one other person - but even then, him and Michael didn't share this kind of loathing that came along with the banter he and Bela seemed to carry. With the archangel, it was playful and sweet, on both ends; With Bela, it was something of a contest, who could make the snarkiest comment, think of the wittiest comeback. "Yeah, didn't you hear? Santa Claus is a monster. The Winchesters had to go put him down."

"How dreadful," Bela murmured. "I hope they don't get Jingle Bell'd to death."

Adam heaved out a soft, dramatic sigh, offering a faint shrug of his shoulders and feigning a mockingly resigned expression. "Or run over by a reindeer…" At this, Bela choked slightly on nothing but air - and then completely burst into a fit of laughter, so intense that she doubled over, covering her mouth. And, unable to stop himself in time, Adam let out a few chuckles of his own. Like every bit of suspicion and distrust had dissolved, all too easily, in that moment. And he didn't know how to feel about it - but even more so, he didn't know how to remind himself that she couldn't be trusted, not even a little. They could laugh, and joke, and tease all they wanted - but at the end of the day, the fact of the matter was… she was the enemy.

Then she straightened up, the grin still on her face, her eyes sparkling even brighter, and Adam forgot, once again, how to break eye contact. And he forgot, once again, to distance himself.

The laughter ceased; She stared at him, watching the grin on his face slip into something a little more serious, and her own smile faded in response. Her eyes never left his, gaze flickering, holding a question Adam wasn't sure he could answer honestly now. Every part of him was aching again, every bone in his body being ground down to powder - hell, to liquid, like he was about ready to melt into a puddle. And he felt hot, he felt hotter than when he'd sit in the Cage, the flames flickering at the bars, hotter than when the fire from his torture would consume him, burning off pieces of his flesh until Michael or Lucifer could bring him back and heal the scars. Yes, he felt hot, from the tips of his toes to his ears, but he was also freezing cold.

But when she stretched up, sudden, too fast for him to react, and pressed her lips to his - the cold and the hot seemed to slam together at once, mashing into a completely new sensation. He gasped, sharp and unsteady, as he was pushed back into the wall behind him, and as Bela pressed herself forward. And before Adam could even really register what he was doing, he was kissing her back, just as hard, just as intense, just as needy, just as desperate.

And, oh, god, was he hating himself by the time they had pulled apart.

Adam had to keep himself back, to physically restrain himself from leaning after her as the other demon pulled away, just slightly. She had a hand pressed against his chest now - and he was sure she could feel his heart pounding faster than the speed of light, the shaky breaths he was taking, in and out, as he struggled to get his bearings back, to compose himself. Her fingers seemed to curl into his shirt a little tighter, the rag slipping from her other hand and reaching up, instead, to place her other hand on his chest, beside the one already pressed over his heart.

This was wrong, completely wrong. He couldn't trust her - for all he knew, this was just her way of manipulating him, getting closer to him. Then, that thought - that turned his mind to a completely different direction. If that was the case, then why not let her? Why not continue what he'd been doing, and keep playing along? Sure, she was the enemy - but a certain quote came to mind, something Lucifer had said to him; Friends close, enemies closer.

With a shaky sigh, Bela began to pull away; Adam reached up without really thinking about it, grabbing her wrists before she could pull her hands away from his chest. She stared, but she didn't protest, didn't move, didn't even blink. Just stared. And he stared back.

And, as if some switch had been flipped, some unspoken word had been said, she surged up to kiss him again. And he found himself responding just as quickly this time, his heart jumping to his throat and continuing to pound harder and faster than ever before. He shoved himself away from the wall, not breaking his lips apart from hers, and her hands left his chest to wrap around his neck instead as he took a few stumbling steps forward, wrapping his arms around her, pulling them just a little closer together than before. A part of him continued to scream that this was wrong, on so many levels, this was wrong.

Bela shoved him back abruptly, pushed him down - and he half expected to land on the floor. But, instead, he sank back into the couch; Before he could react much, though, she was in front of him again, leaning over him, arms around his neck and her lips pressed to his.

There's a difference between trusting people and taking advantage of a situation. Crowley had said that to him once, just before they'd parted ways, the last time he had seen the demon. Yeah, Adam was beginning to realize that he was certainly right about that. He hated this chick more than he ever thought he could hate anyone, and he didn't trust her, even a little.

That being said, though, if this was wrong, Adam could live with never being right again.