Soory it took so long. Please review.

Weeks pass, and life is normal. Well, normal for Justin, in which case the meaning of the word was greatly expanded. He would wake up, brush his teeth, shower, make breakfast, go to school. Homework, magic lessons, Alien League meetings.

And, of course, the repeated summonings. Images of death and destruction that would form in his mind unbidden, each calling out to him, asking, demanding that he help, that he act.

His grades were slipping as a result. Not too much, he was averaging a solid B+. But that was besides the point. How could he focus on his studies, how could he pay attention in class, when at that very moment there was a woman in Milwaukee being dismembered by a demon, and he could hear her screams? Could see as the claws pierced her skin and that thing played with her insides?

It took time, but Justin learned to ignore those images, those "moments." He learned to push them back to the darkest corners of his mind; he chained and bound them where they couldn't be seen.

He knew it was cold. It was wrong, what he was doing, ignoring people he had the power to help.

But he was afraid. He was afraid of what he had done to himself, of the animal he had become.

He still knew so little about himself. Max said the change was voluntary. But the first and only time Justin had transformed had been involuntary. He still didn't know how to actually do it. And say he transformed, how would he change back?

There were too many questions, with too little answers. There was already one champion of the divine in the Russo family; there was no need for another.

That was what Justin told himself, and he adjusted. He just wished he could get the images out of his head. Max had also told him that once the bond was completed, one could choose not to join the fight against Hell, that one could just live.

He was trying, but it was difficult. He wondered how the others of his kind managed any kind of life, while plagued by those images, the calls to battle.

Endure. That was Justin's new normal.

He never said so, but Alex knew Justin was suffering. His grades had gone down, (They were still infinitely higher than hers, but that was besides the point) and Justin had always been an excellent student, a stickler for achievement. There were also times when he just spaced out; they would be in the middle of a conversation and he would just stop talking, and his eyes would glaze over. It was like he was someplace else, seeing something that was far off.

It made Alex angry.

Joining with the wolf was supposed to turn everything back again, bring Justin back to her. Instead, all it had done was take him further away.

She didn't know of anyway to help Justin. None of the books in the lair had been any help(big surprise there. Books. Please). So Alex decided she would do the next best thing: she would take his mind off of whatever it was that was bothering him.

And there was no better way to distract her darling brother than with a well-planned prank...

Alex entered their bedroom after mussing up her bed for the night (just in case) and walked straight into a bear hug.

"Thank you," Justin whispered as he clung to her tightly.

"You're welcome," she replied, just as softly, hanging on just as tightly.

Then she broke the hug and, smiling, said, "If I knew this would be the reaction I'd get I would've burned your comics a long time ago."

"You did what!"

"You didn't know?" Alex asked, still smiling. "Then what were you thanking me for?"

"The soap. It took hours to get my skin back to the right tone."

"Oh. Then you're welcome for that, too."

"You didn't really-"

"Just check already!"

Justin went to his comics drawer, opened it, and found its contents was indeed burned, the prized collections it held nothing more than blackened paper.

"You're mad, aren't you?"

Justin didn't answer. He just continued to stare.

Alex sighed, and pretended to leave.

"Wait," Justin said as her hand reached for the doorknob. "Stay."

They crawled into bed together, Alex feeling quite proud of herself. His shock at her prank would carry him through the night, she knew. He'd have one more peaceful day. And when he woke up tomorrow, his drawer would cleared out of the garbage and his comics would be put back, after she got them from their hiding place.

As his even, peaceful breathing tickled her, Alex fell asleep, content in knowing that she'd lightened his burden, if only for a little while.

Alex woke to a hurried voice, furiously urging, "Wake up!" The voice didn't belong to Justin. Whoever it was was also shaking her.

"Get.. off!" Alex yelled, pushing the intruder away and waking Justin.

"What's wrong?"

"Someone's here!"

Justin grabbed his wand and muttered a spell that lit up the tip, the resulting light revealing...their brother, Max.

"You need to go," he said, deciding not to bother with too many details.

"What's happened?" Alex asked, grabbing her own wand and spelling things into a small travel bag; this wasn't the first time Max had come to bail them out of trouble.

"The birth of a God Hound is a momentous thing," Max said. "For those of us with the ability, it's an easy enough thing to sense the soul-bond."

Max turned to Justin. "Someone very bad sensed your joining; he's on his way here."

"Our parents-"

"I'll take care of them. But you two need to leave, now." His tone of voice left no room for argument.

They silently made their way through the house, the fledgling wolf, the wizard, and the angel.

They made it outside, and found their way blocked by a huge brown wolf.

"It's okay," Max said as the elder Russos had begun to point their wands. "He's with me."

"He's a God Hound?" Justin asked, staring in amazement.

Max nodded, then turned to the wolf. "Go," he said. "I'll catch up when I can."

"You're not coming!" Alex exclaimed.

"Someone has to keep the assassin busy while you escape. Don't worry, Fido here is all the protection you need."

The wolf growled, whether it was in agreement or because he hated being called 'Fido," neither of the Russos could tell.

"I'm not worried about us," Alex said.

"I'll be fine," Max said. His head jerked up suddenly, and his eyes narrowed. "He's not too far now. You need to go."

"Where are we going?" Justin asked.

"Away from here." Max's head jerked again. "Damn. Go now!" Then he disappeared.

"I hate when he does that," Alex said.

The wolf began to run. After a brief moment of hesitation and a shared look, Alex and Justin followed.

They had no idea how long they ran for, all they knew was that they were exhausted when they stopped.

"We should safe here," a voice said. "Get some rest for now."

Alex and Justin stared in shock.

Where once there was a wolf, there was now Uncle Ernesto.