Author's Note: Thanks again to BluCrayons! You're a wonderful beta and wonderful friend.
Chapter 66: Temptation
"You realize if you do this, you'll mess up the entire world," Mike said trying to reason with the Devil even though he knew it was futile. "You'll change history. You'll destroy time."
"I won't destroy time," the Devil laughed. "But I really don't care if I do mess up history. I'm evil. We thrive on chaos, stupid little boy. Who cares if I let Germany win? It'll make it that much more fun for me."
"How?" Piper asked looking very calm. "You won't be here to see the outcome. You'll be going home."
"Yes, but home isn't that far into the future," the Devil smiled. "I'll get to revel in the outcome."
"Ok," Piper said. "But how will that help you achieve what you want?"
"What do you mean?" the Devil asked turning to look at her quizzically.
"Well, your main goal was to make them suffer, right?" Piper asked. "Revenge. Payback for stopping you before. How is leaving going to allow you to revel in their suffering? How is you leaving going to make them suffer, for that matter?"
"They'll be stuck in the middle of a war," the Devil answered. "And you'll be dead."
"Really?" Piper asked. "Is that what you think is going to happen? Sure, I'll be dead, but do you think the German soldiers are going to let them survive once you leave?"
"I can tell them to ship them off to one of the camps," the Devil said.
"Where they'll die," Piper said. "And you don't want them dead. If that's all you wanted, you would have done that a long time ago instead of sending countless demons to toy with them. No, you want them to suffer and you want to watch. Doing this? Going back home without us? How are you going to watch them suffer? They'll be long since dead and their souls will have moved on. You'll get nothing."
"You bring up a good point," the Devil said thinking. At first Mike was confused. He wasn't sure why Piper was reminding him that he wanted to torture them, but now he understood. She was simply trying to buy time; get him to not use the scythe. "But I think given the circumstances, I'll just live with the knowledge they suffered."
"You don't even know that," Piper smiled at him. "They could get away completely. It wouldn't be the first time, would it?"
"They can't get away from a concentration camp," the Devil argued.
"Maybe," Piper said. "But the odds are they'll just die there. Not suffer. At least not for very long. And that's what you want. You wanted them to suffer for eternity. That's why you tried to bargain with Micky. Turn him into a demon so his soul would suffer for eternity. He'll mourn my loss, but he'll have his friends. As long as they're all together, they won't suffer. At least not to the extent you want them to. They'll move on; they'll endure. You realized it before. When you sent the demon of fear after them. When Barbas broke Micky. The only way to really make them suffer is to tear them apart or corrupt them. And since you can't tear them apart, the only thing you can do to ensure their suffering is to corrupt them. Turn them to demons. Their souls will suffer inside their own bodies for the rest of eternity alongside the soul of a demon. And you can't do that if you leave them behind." The Devil looked at her angrily for a moment; she had just told him everything he already knew and realized at that moment that she was right. Piper smiled further, looked him squarely in the eyes and spoke slowly and deliberately. "You still can't win."
"How dare you speak to me like that," the Devil roared reaching back and slapping Piper hard across the face. Mike winced and tried further to undo his bonds. Mike heard footsteps outside the door and knew the soldiers must be coming back. He just hoped they didn't have their friends with them.
"Slow down there," Piper answered as if nothing had happened. "There's a way you can win. There's a way you can get what you want."
"Like you honestly care about that," the Devil snorted as the soldiers walked in. Sure enough, Davy and Peter were walking in between the soldiers with guns at their backs and two other soldiers carried Micky on a makeshift stretcher. Piper looked at Micky for a second before returning her attention to the Devil. The soldiers pushed Peter and Davy to sit on the floor next to Mike and tied them up and set Micky down on the stretcher next to Peter. The Devil waved at them saying they should leave before turning back to Piper quizzically.
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Piper said. "All I know right now is that I'm about to die, and I really want to avoid that."
"What?" Micky asked wincing in pain.
"So what are you saying?" the Devil asked.
"I'm saying I was thinking about what you said before," Piper said. "On the Titanic. About you saving me and us running away together. I'm guessing you don't need to kill me to make that thing work; you need just enough of my blood to cover the blade. So you'll need to stab me. Probably in the stomach. That'll kill me. But if I weren't human anymore…"
"Piper?" Micky asked over her speech. Mike wanted to tell him to shush, but thought it would give away her plan. "What's going on?"
"...I wouldn't die," Piper finished ignoring Micky.
"No, but it'll still be painful," the Devil said.
"I can handle that," Piper answered. "And you'll take care of me. You said it yourself: you think I'm beautiful. Not to mention how powerful I am. You must know by now who I am and why I am as powerful as I am. You could use that to help in your attempt for revenge. Turn me. Give me immortality. And I'll help you."
"I was under the impression you didn't want to give my offer a second thought," the Devil said a small smile creeping on his face.
"That was when I was so sure I was going to live," Piper answered. "I can change my mind, can't I? Especially with the situation."
"Why would I believe that someone like you would want to turn like that?" the Devil asked walking a little closer to her.
"Someone like me?" Piper asked. "You really don't know anything about me, do you?"
"You're a good witch," the Devil answered.
"Like I'd be the first good witch to turn evil," Piper sneered. "Hundreds of good witches have turned. Yes, I've killed a lot of demons, but I also value my life. Besides, I don't exactly have a "good" background. My grandfather was a powerful demon. Raped a witch and she had my mom. I'm already part demon anyway because of that. I nearly went to jail as a teenager for some of the stuff I did. I dated every bad boy in high school and nearly got pregnant because of it. I'm not your typical "good witch" who had such a wonderful life growing up and wants to save the world. I wanted to redeem myself thinking it would save me from the clutches of demons like yourself. But now I see that I can either choose someone as vulnerable as that to spend the rest of my life with…" Piper nodded over to Micky who looked pissed and confused all at the same time before continuing. "Or I can ally myself with power. Spend the rest of my life, the rest of eternity, with true power."
"What…" Micky started, but quietly, Peter nudged him with his elbow and whispered so the Devil wouldn't hear.
"Shush," Peter said. "She's just trying to get him to untie her. It's a game."
"You really want to turn on your friends?" the Devil asked still skeptical.
"Why do you think I left him behind?" Piper asked. "He's weak. I went to look for you, but Mike tried to tag along."
"You saved him," the Devil pointed out.
"Because I knew you didn't really want him to die," Piper said. "You want him to suffer. I have spent my whole life trying to find as much power as I can and trying to keep myself alive. And I finally realized I can get everything I want through you."
"You know what turning you would entail, right?" the Devil asked.
"Yes," Piper answered. "No contracts. I wouldn't get the full extent of demonic powers. I'd be tied too much to you; more like a minion than an equal. I want to rule by your side. As your queen." Mike heard Micky whimper a little. He tried to tell Micky that Piper was just acting, but Peter already had. Micky just seemed to be scared.
"I still don't believe you," the Devil said.
"What do I have to do to prove it to you?" Piper asked. The Devil smiled and leaned closer to her face.
"Kiss me," the Devil said. Piper seemed to hesitate for only a second, but kissed him. Mike, Peter and Davy all looked away, unable to watch and Mike had to admit he was really buying her pitch, too. He had to keep telling himself it wasn't real. She was trying to save them. Micky groaned in anger and tried to move only to gasp in pain.
"Micky, don't move," Davy hissed. "Peter's right. It's not real. She's playing with him."
"Well, now," the Devil said as he pulled away from her.
"Satisfied?" Piper asked.
"Perhaps, but that still doesn't fix the problem for now," the Devil said. "It'll take some time to turn you into a demon."
"Yes, but in the meantime, you can just keep them prisoner," Piper said. "I say you take them with us back home and then you can do whatever you want with them; keep them tied here in the meantime."
"You'd really let me hurt them?" the Devil asked. "You're friends with them."
"Not really," Piper said. "I've just helped them. Because they're so helpless. I took pity on them. Now I understand how weak they really are. They kind of deserve it."
"Prove it," the Devil said pulling a blade out of his pocket and walking behind Piper. He cut the ropes binding her hands together before handing her the blade. "Why don't you take a slice now. Prove it to me. Unless, of course, you're lying to me."
"I really hope I'm not that distrusting when I become a full demon," Piper said. Mike wasn't sure how she was going to do this, but wanted to make sure she knew it was ok for her to hurt him. She had to keep making this believable. And if she was still to be trusted, she would get his message.
"I knew we couldn't trust you," Mike said trying to make it seem like he was just angry when he was really trying to tell her to focus on him. "I knew you were shady from day one. I told Micky to stay away from that shop. I knew magic was evil."
"Not all magic is evil, Michael," Piper said. "I really did try to help you. But you're all just so annoying and you keep trying to drag me down with you."
"You're truly a horrible person," Mike said. "You're not a witch...you're a-" before Mike could finish with the bad word, he felt the chair lift off the ground and fly backwards. At the last second, he slowed down, but the chair still shattered and it still hurt when he hit the wall. But not as much as it could have if she'd used her full power and hadn't slowed him down at the last second.
"Mike!" Peter and Davy cried. Mike cried out in pain; more than he should have to keep playing along. He had to make it seem like she'd really hurt him.
"Watch your mouth," Piper sneered just as Mike decided to pretend to pass out. He slumped to the ground and closed his eyes and focused on slowing down his breathing. He listened very carefully at the footsteps around the room. With the soldiers gone, it was just them and the Devil. Once the Devil thought Mike was passed out, Mike could make a move for the scythe when he wasn't looking. He just had to time it right and make the right move.
"That was interesting," the Devil said.
"I don't like being called that word," Piper said. "Wanted to stop him before he said it. Knives are too messy. Now, what are we going to do with the rest of them?"
"We have this bunker all to ourselves," the Devil answered.
"What about the soldiers?" Piper asked.
"They'll leave if I ask them to," he answered.
"Yes, but you told them you'd show them how to work this," Piper said.
"I didn't intend on doing that," he answered. Mike heard him cross the room and peeked a little; the Devil's back was to him and he was showing Piper the scythe. It had seemed she'd finally gained his trust. "I was going to take this with me. I could use it whenever I please."
"We could do whatever we wanted with this," Piper said. Mike moved very quietly, knowing this was his one chance to get the scythe away. He slowly stood up to stay quiet and crept toward the Devil. The glint of the blade on the scythe made Mike's resolve that much stronger. Piper glanced over the Devil's shoulder at Mike making it seem like she was just looking at the scythe.
"We could change whatever we wanted to suit our own whims," the Devil said. "We could accomplish my original plan. To go back where the boys met and make it so they don't. They'll be torn apart forever."
"And then you could turn them so much easier," Piper said. "Give them their temptations, their desires and put them entirely under your control."
"Yes," the Devil said. Mike could hear the smile in his voice. Mike was finally close enough; he dashed the last few steps and tackled the Devil to the ground. As he did so, Piper reached out and ripped the scythe from his hand. The Devil roared in anger as he realized what was going on and reached back to elbow Mike in the nose. Mike let go a little as Piper moved to untie the others. The Devil, however, reached out and grabbed her, just getting the back of her dress enough to trip her. She fell forward and Mike heard the scythe clatter to the floor and this time, he saw the glint of a little blood on it. Mike punched the Devil as hard as he could in the face as the Devil tried to roll over and get up. The Devil's head bounced off the ground and Mike got up quickly to check on Piper.
"You alright?" Mike asked. She held her hand tightly closed, but there was blood dripping from it.
"The scythe cut my hand," Piper answered. "It should be fine."
"The scythe has blood on it," Mike said looking at the scythe on the ground. Even as they watched, the scythe began to glow a little.
"It's not enough," Piper whispered out of fear. "It can't open a portal."
"So what's it doing?" Mike asked.
"I...I don't know," Piper answered trying to reach out for it. As soon as she touched it, Mike felt a shock wave hit him squarely in the chest. He was blown halfway across the room and knocked unconscious.