The examination Moxxie preformed earlier yielded nothing out of the ordinary, but he could still feel it the entire time he and Millie were at the gym. It didn't hurt anymore but the sensation was akin to someone holding a warm towel to his side. Not totally convinced he was in the clear, he went to the bathroom and locked the door before taking off the gym clothes they had let him borrow and put on his pants.

'It would be easier if I didn't have to wear this stupid disguise.' gazing at his reflection he took the pendant off blurring his vision. After the transformation the real Damien stared back. 'Nothing wrong yet blonde hair, pale skin, ...wait what is that?'

Getting closer to the mirror he saw a black streak just under the skin and a white glow surrounding it.

'That has got to be the weirdest blood blister I've ever seen!' Damien poked it confirming that it was indeed some kind of liquid that was trapped under his skin somehow. 'Need something sharp.'

he bent down to check cabinet under the sink. nothing but extra toiletries down there. Standing back up he heard something clank to the floor.

'Where did this come from?' He picked up a switchblade that wasn't there before. The handle was black marble and when he pressed the button on its side out popped a black blade with silvered edges. He turned around feeling like he was once again being watched. But the only thing in the room with him right now was his own shadow. Holding it to his side he hesitated before pressing down on the center of the mark. He felt the familiar pinch and before long black ink-like liquid shot out onto the counter.

"Shit!"

Just when he thought it couldn't get worse someone started pounding on the door. He put on his pendant and rushed to clean up the mess.

"Hey small fry, you in there? were about to pick our hits."

Before he could answer the door unlocked and Loona poked her head in just as Damien finished both the transformation and the cleanup. Seeing he was somewhat decent she opened the door the rest of the way leaned against the door frame. After an awkward moment standing there like a deer in headlights, he realized she was looking him up and down reminding him he was technically shirtless.

"Do you mind!"

"Not really." Loona smirked "your pretty easy on the eyes. Probably because you look more like a plush toy than a Hellhound."

"Fuck off!"

"It was a compliment!" Loona growled, "I'm trying to be friendly!"

"Why?" Damien turned back to the sink and put on the rest of his suit, "Thought you hated my guts?"

"Well, it might sound selfish." Loona looked away avoiding his pointed gaze in the mirror.

"You literally threatened to kill me yesterday and have just been a complete bitch to me in general. Can't really get worse from there."

"your really the only option if I want to work in the field and have achance at enjoying work for once. I don't get along with the others too well and blitz is overprotective to the point that I wouldn't be the one doing anything."

"Okay so you need me to help get you out of the office. And all I got to do is say no and your hopes are dashed." Damien gave her a sly smile, "Bet you wish you made a better first impression."

Loona thought for a moment before closing the door and locking it again, "You tell anyone What I'm about to tell you, and it won't be a threat."

'Uh-oh' Damien instinctively reached for the knife that he had left on the counter only to find it vanished, 'Oh for fucks sake!'

Then the older hound reached up and detached the smoke detector from the ceiling before trading places with Damien so that he was now closer to the door. She then got a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

"You smoke?" loona asked offering him the pack.

"Not tobacco." Damien said, crossing his arms.

Loona sat on the counter and lit one, "Well if I had a J I'd offer but blitz is surprisingly strict when it comes to that kind of thing."

"So… is this your version of an apology?" Damien leaned against the wall, "Offering me a smoke?"

"I may have overreacted to your arrival." Loona sighed, "You know how it is being raised in the adoption agency, I spent my entire childhood in one of those prisons. Seeing all those other hounds finding loving families while you get passed over again and again. I guess I just didn't want you messing up what little stability I'm lucky to have."

"I understand where you're coming from." There was a hint of anger behind his stare, "I have a twin sister. It's something I only ever told my uncle, not that that matters anymore. The family that adopted her said they could only take one. One day she shows up out of the blue asking me a favor after I had finally made peace with the Whole ordeal."

loona puffed on her cigarette, "Shit dude sorry to bring that up."

"Don't apologize. You had nothing to do with it." Damien coughed, "Honestly, I still have Some major resentments because of it. If it hadn't been for my uncle, well I Might have turned out worse. He may have been a hard ass and on my case but one day I realized it was because he was the only one that actually gave a shit about me as a person. Todd and Nancy only took me in for the government assistance."

Loona drummed her fingers on the countertop with her fingers and avoided eye contact.

"Blitz is annoying as hell and does the weirdest shit. He picked me a hellhound who was about to age out of the system when there were plenty others that would have been a better daughter a hundred times over. When he brought me home, he gave me the only room in the apartment and started sleeping on the couch. And no matter how bad my attitude gets he still hasn't abandoned me." Loona looked up desperate to change the subject, "Your uncle, is He your Blitz?"

Damien nodded in response. "And I repaid his kindness by killing his brother."

"I can't imagine you just snapping, you seem to be good at handling your emotions. Better than me at least."

"If only that were true, I'm here right now because I did just that. I snapped. Hard."

Two days ago

Damien put the last of his clothes in his backpack. He then went to his desk drawer where he had been hiding his car keys. They belonged to his uncle's well-maintained 1989 Monte Carlo. He could have bought just any old beater, but the car was special to him; and he couldn't let someone else take it. His uncle was ecstatic when he asked to buy it four years ago and told him he had all the time in the world to save up the money, which also gave him time to save money for both moving out and starting his career. His first time driving out of town would be on the way to a university his friend was attending and after that it was on to the academy.

He searched the drawer over again, but the key wasn't turning up. It was then he noticed the note placed on the desktop with Todd's sloppy handwriting all over it. Took your precious keys. want them back? pony up and pay the rent! Damien took the note and crumpled it into a ball before storming into the living room. He found the slime sitting on the couch as usual watching tv drinking straight from whatever bottle he found today. He was an older man looking to be in his fifties wearing a filthy pair of overalls and not the kind filthy you got from hard work. His balding head was covered by a trucker's hat and what face you could see other than his poorly kept beard was flushed red from his normal binge drinking session.

"What the actual fuck is this shit, Todd! I already told you I'm not paying rent if I'm not going to be living here anymore. I've given you plenty fuckin money since you and Nancy practically kidnapped me from that orphanage." He threw the wadded-up paper at the man, "The state gave you money for 8 years and I had to pay you rent since I could hold a fuckin job. Honestly the only reason you're not behind bars right now is because you happen to have dirt on the only man that can put you away and the child you treated more like a room mate wishes for the one good officer in this po dunk backwater shit hole to keep his job."

The slob slowly got up and waddled over to him bottle in hand, "you got one chance to apologize."

"No." Damien glared undeterred, "I'm not going to apologize when it's obvious you're the one who should be sorry."

The man grabbed his collar and dropped the bottle before punching him right in the nose breaking it. Damien yelled out in pain and Todd threw him against the wall before kicking him square in the ribs a couple times.

"Ungrateful fuckin brat. If Nancy were still with us, she'd be having a heart attack." Todd sat back down and gave him a sickening smile, "Eh don't worry about the rent Damie. I got plenty of money off that old Junker of yours. Don't need a title if they're just going to part it out now do they?"

Tod watched him clutch at his bleeding nose "yeah that's right you little shit. You owed me money and since you obviously didn't care to honor the arrangement I went into town and started lookin for a buyer. Sold it to a Colonel Sanders lookalike at the bar, Fella paid up front and in cold hard cash."

Damien could no longer feel the pain as he watched the man he hated more than anything in the world at that moment pull out a wad of cash and start counting. He counted until he reached ten thousand. Damien only paid about half that, but he was also the person who helped his uncle restore that vehicle to what it was now. And this fuck pawned it off to become a parts car. He started looking around for things he could use. The bottle was the nearest thing being within arm's reach, seems it broke into some sizable shards when dropped. But what he wanted was on the wall behind Todd, the double barrel shotgun above the fireplace. It's always there always been loaded; he had been tempted to use it many times. Now he just needs to draw him back over here so he can get a chance to use it.

He coughed and took a deep breath. "If that old hag was sill with us shed probably be fuckin your other cousin by now. you know since you cant get it up."

Todd's eyes lit up with absolute fury and he shot to his feet. "You shut your fuckin trap!"

'That's right you greasy fuck. Come kick me while I'm down.' Damien spat at him, "i bet she sucked any dick she could when she found out you were an impotent cuck!"

Just as he predicted Todd came stomping over to deliver another kick. Before he could catch on Damien put his hand on one of the shards and gripped it in his hand ignoring everything but the rage he felt. The foot came flying and Damien made sure to catch it when it connected before driving the shard deep into Todd's calf and made sure to dig in as much as he could. Blood started gushing out like a river in comparison to the stream from his own lacerated hand. The yowling that met his ears as he toppled over was absolutely cathartic.

Damien slowly got up from the ground and made his way over to the fireplace. From the sounds Todd was making he had caught on to Damien's plan. But laughter was not something he was expecting. Taking the shotgun from its perch he checked the barrels. Empty. Hearing a click, he turned to find Todd had propped himself against the wall and was now pointing a 1911 at him.

"I thought things might get a bit out of hand but not this out of hand. Thought that would be the first thing you tried after tonight." Todd winced in pain, "Drop the gun, be a good little boy, and call an ambulance."

"can't you call em?"

"Don't get cute with me i have half a mind to shoot you right now."

The double barrel fell to the ground and Damien walked into the kitchen. He had to hide his face though, he couldn't stop smiling. One thing he had noticed was that Todd was losing way too much blood way too fast. An ambulance wouldn't make it in time. He stepped into the kitchen and looked at the old rotary phone hooked to the wall. Putting one hand on top of the box he picked up the phone and dialed 911.

Loona put out the cigarette and let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

"You're not a hellhound."

"What gave it away?" Damien didn't even feel like pretending anymore.

"Well besides the fact that Monte Carlos don't exist here, and dollars is an American thing." She looked him in the eyes, "You consider giving a total piece of shit exactly what he deserves as snapping. Didn't even give a killing blow. Only humans do that asinine shit."

"Yeah, I'm human and then some apparently." He chuckled remembering he's got some other arbitrary label now.

"So why are you in hell? Never said you died."

"I made a deal with the devil or something like that, same guy whos paying your dad to have me at this company."

After waiting a couple moments Loona got up of the counter. "So why did you tell me all this? you didn't need to go into that much detail"

"Cause honestly Loona even if you weren't being nice that's way better than being fake. Most people are nice only as a means to an end. You're the first person since that incident that I don't need to second guess. That and you spilled your guts first softie."

He was rewarded with a warning glance.

"That makes sense." Loona put the smoke detector back and unlocked the door, "One orphan to another, you can trust these three. I know I'm always hostile on the outside, but I trust them with my life. And I think you' can too."

Damien doesn't consider himself an orphan but he figured he'd let Loona have her moment, "Even if I'm not a hell born?"

Loona nodded.

"Well Loona, i accept your apology. lets pick our first hit." Damien exited the bathroom, "Its time I earned my place in Hell."

A/n: End chapter 6