AN: Hey All! Sorry for the late post. Hope I didn't keep you all waiting on the edges of your seats for too long! I'm super excited but a bit nervous moving into the next part of this story, but I feel like I have a much better storyline planned for the next bit. I've lost a bit of motivation in my writing (which is kinda funny since I have a whole timeline planned out) But hopefully I can keep ahead so I can continue posting two chapters a week for you guys. Thank you for stickin around and enjoy!

Cheers!

"We were supposed to meet once before this, you know. Colour me impressed you snuck from my grasp. Not something many can accomplish."

"You! What are you doing here?"

Ellen's eyes widened, recognising the form in front of her. The shadowy form and deep red eyes. She remembered. "You sent me here. Who are you? What do you want?" She took a few steps back, her eyes watching this form unsure of what he was going to do.

"I'm simply here for you."

"What makes this different from the car accid-" She paused as her gaze swept the room. "No." She shook her head looking down at the world around her frozen. Her body lay no more than two feet away, ghostly white. Alastor was seated beside her looking defeated, broken.

"No you can't. I'm not-"

She hesitantly reached out to Alastor. Her fingers paused just before touching his arm, afraid of confirming her fear. "You can't leave him like this."

He had already been through so much. Both of them had. It seemed every time they were reunited, they were pulled apart again. But this was a bit permanent. She couldn't simply recover from death.

"I- I didn't get to say goodbye, we had plans. We have a kid. I-I can't be dead."

The shadowy form laughed. "No one is truly ready for me. Nothing would have changed if you said goodbye."

Her gaze moved to Angel, in one set of his arms a bundle. She slowly moved closer. Her lip twitched up. It looked very much like Alastor, ears and antlers included. The eyes were hers, warm hazel that popped on the pale skin. There were light freckles dotted across the nose. He had normal teeth, not sharp. She wondered if that would be problematic in Hell. If he did indeed enjoy demon flesh, surely having sharper teeth would help. She felt a twinge of sadness realizing she would never know. She didn't move her eyes off her child asking, "I've finished that essential role haven't I? My greater purpose was this child wasn't it?"

She turned to face the shadow, surprised that with her broken state, no tears had appeared.

"Not entirely, but the child is essential. We will meet again a few more times."

"Wait, you can't do that. There are laws about this Death."

Ellen whipped her head over to where Lucifer was now marching over. Had he been here the whole time? Why wasn't he frozen? This shadow thing was Death?

"Now, now Luci, I've seen what she is capable of and I need her alive a bit longer. She will solve a little problem of mine."

"It goes against the laws of nature." Lucifer was glaring at Death.

"Wait, you're going to send me back? What about my body? This one, or my old one I guess." She was ignored, the two men locked to each other.

"You can't make these decisions."

"I can, to fulfill my job and there happens to be someone in particular that will shortly be crossing her path that I need her to deal with. Come now Lucifer, surely you don't think I have some deal struck with this young lady now do you?"

"You can make deals with literal Death?" Ellen wasn't convinced.

Death turned to look at her. "We can strike a deal."

"Ellen don't." It was clear Lucifer couldn't see her, his eyes whipping around wildly, like he was hoping to find some trace of her.

Ellen eyed Death suspiciously. "You already know I will meet my end of the deal. What are you offering?"

"I will ensure your soul makes it to heaven."

"You're already heaven bound Ellen, don't do it."

Ellen remained quiet thinking. Was that a big win, ensuring she made it to heaven? She didn't mind Hell, she kinda made a family down here.

"Dad, there's something weird going… oh."

Charlie paused looking at the frozen image in the lobby. Her eyes found her dad, her head tilted to the side. "What's going on?"

Suddenly the room was no longer frozen, Death no longer visible. Not to Charlie and Lucifer at least.

Charlie's eyes found Ellen's body and quickly pieced together what had happened. Her gasp was covered by the sound of the baby wailing. Angel tried soothing it, but it was proving to be useless.

Ellen watched, her eyes constantly moving trying to observe everyone at once. There was too much going on. Charlie was shortly joined by Vaggie, who wrapped her arms around the princess in an attempt to try and comfort her. Nifty seemed oblivious to the chaos and despair in the room, cleaning the blood off the floor, picking up soiled towels and sheets. She noticed Lucifer off to the side, eyes scanning the room.

She followed Angel as he made his way over to Alastor, one arm wrapped around his shoulder as he offered the baby to him.

"It's a boy."

Alastor remained silent, his gaze looking at the child in his arms.

Angel made his way over to Charlie and Vaggie, giving the Radio Demon some space.

Ellen moved closer watching Alastor take his first look at their son. His eyes flashed with pain when he saw he had her eyes. A now permanent reminder of her.

"It looks like it's just you and me now, little one. It's quite unfortunate you'll never get to meet your mother."

Ellen didn't know why she wasn't crying. The sight should have made her a mess. Could she not cry? Oh. Yeah she didn't have a body.

"I suppose most of the names I picked out don't really work for you."

She watched as her son wrapped a hand around one of Alastor's claws.

"Your mother came up with a bunch of silly names for you. I didn't really care much for any of them."

"Hey!"

"But I suppose I could tolerate Xander. With an 'X' as she put it. And if you don't quite like it, well you'll have to take it up with her." He chuckled sadly. "I did try to warn you, she has a way of getting what she wants."

There was a moment of pause before he corrected himself, the smile looking almost painful to hold on his face.

"Had."

Lucifer's eyes scanned the room looking for any sign of death, he wouldn't make himself present, not with the room slowly getting more and more crowded. What was Death waiting for?

He jumped at the hushed tone next to him.

"Things are about to get interesting."

"Why haven't you brought Ellen back yet."

"She has someone she needs to meet first."

He was curious, really curious, but he kept his mouth shut. He would find out soon enough.

A poof of black smoke appeared in the lobby near Alastor, who very quickly got to his feet in a partial demon form, eyes black, antlers extended back, teeth bared, holding Xander tight to him.

A tall blonde man in a dark blue business suit appeared from the smoke. He took a quick look around before his gaze found Alastor and the child in his arms.

"Well this is certainly a first." The man in the suit pulled a pair of glasses from his breast pocket, a parchment appearing in his hands by magic. He looked down at the bottom before his gaze returned to Alastor.

"You must be Alastor. Ah yes I remember you. Oh how I do love the irony." His grin was malevolent. His eyes looked the deer demon up and down.

Ellne had worked with Alastor enough to know what a contract looked like, and the face of someone who was here to collect.

"I'm sorry you are?"

The man turned quickly on his heels, meeting Lucifer's bored expression.

"If you must know, Dolion Tucker." He only tilted his head in greeting.

"And uh, What are you doing here?"

Dolion laughed, turning back toward Alastor who had returned to normal, but still held Xander away from the stranger.

"Simply collecting on a deal I made with Alastor."

"I don't recall striking any deals with mortals, I would have remembered such a thing." Alastor eyed the man suspiciously, trying to figure out why the name seemed familiar.

Dolion laughed again. "No, I suppose a hundred years or so does change one's appearance. You're no kid anymore. Must say you had me going there."

Ellen moved over to Dolion, not that he could see her, peaking around him to look at the contract. The signature at the bottom was definitely Alastors, though it wasn't as neat as she was used to. Her eyes shot to the top of the page quickly scanning to see what this guy was here to take from Alastor.

Alastor's eyes shifted back and forth trying to recall every memory he had of signing something. Finally, it came to him, a memory so far back he thought it gone. His eyes widened. "That deal died when I did."

"Clearly not if I'm here to collect. I suppose that's the nice thing about targeting the young, they're impatient, they don't read the fine print, and are easily amused. It seems it was well worth the wait though."

Ellen froze eyes wide as she re-read the same sentence over at least three times, certain she had read it wrong.

Lucifer turned his head to the side where he assumed Death was still standing. "This is the guy that has you all bent out of shape?"

"He's been alive for two hundred and eighty-four years. That asshole's cheating."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "Cheating? Thought you couldn't be cheated?"

"I can't."

1923

He always hated going out hunting with his father. Don't get him wrong, he loved hunting, he was quite good at it actually. The problem was his father. He was the problem for almost everything wrong in his life. He was everything his mother had raised him not to be. Why she ever agreed to marry him, he'll never understand.

The whole idea of marriage seemed foolish. He was expected to find some gal to settle down with and now cover all her expenses, extra groceries, clothes and gifts? It seemed a foolish investment. Not to mention the expectation of children. Just the thought sent shivers down his back. Children were the worst. A complete waste of resources. They were annoying, loud, stupid, ungrateful little brats. That was probably the only thing he and his father ever agreed on.

"Keep up boy, you're fallin' behind."

He was hardly two paces behind his father, but he knew better than to talk back. He had the belt marks to remind him.

The two made their way through the hunting grounds. He had been here enough times he knew it like the back of his hand. That was another reason he liked going alone. He knew the spots no one else wandered. Places he could hunt, undisturbed, without distractions or dogs, those beasts were savages.

His fathers arm shot out and had he not been paying attention he would have walked right into it. That would have landed him another scolding, not that he really cared. If they were able to bring home some game, his father would be over the moon. And that would make him more tolerable for him and his mother. At least until he went out to a gin mill and came back ossified.

He followed his fathers gaze long before he was told to look. Most of the time they went out, they would be lucky if they were able to get duck, or rabbits. If they were really fortunate they could bag themselves a buck. Today it seemed they were quite fortunate, provided he took the shot. If his father took the rifle they would likely end up empty handed.

"Looks like we got ourselves a nice lookin buck, eh boy? Gimme the gun." He waved his hand prompting Alastor to hand it over. He obliged, begrudgingly.

He watched as his father lined up the shot, but he knew it was off. It would be a complete miss, he didn't even take the wind into consideration. He took a few steps closer trying to see the angle his father had. He watched his father move his finger to curl around the trigger. He took a quick second to weigh the consequences and just as his father took his shot, he nudged his shoulder and in turn tipped the shot.

"YOU WORTHLESS, LITTLE SHIT!"

Before Alastor could even point out the buck that had only made it a couple hundred meters before collapsing, his father had shoved him to the ground rifle pointed to his face.

Chr-chk

Being shot in the face was not on that quick list of consequences Alastor had siphoned through. It was a gutsy move on his fathers part, but he wouldn't do it, not if planned on facing his wife again. She was very protective of him, unfortunately there was only so much she could do. Or maybe he would in spite, he was unpredictable, unstable.

Alastor didn't bother showing fear, what was the point? He either lived or he died. Not something he had control of at this moment. And he hated that. His father always had control, was always one bad look away from a beating. Always.

He nudged his chin in the direction of the deer, his eyes never leaving his fathers. He turned to look, the rifle lowering slowly.

"You got lucky."

He knew better than to remark, but he couldn't help himself.

"Perhaps. Or perhaps I'm good enough to know how to fix even your lousy shots."

A loud crack sounded as the butt of the rifle hit his face, the pain bringing tears to his eyes.

"You wanna say that again, boy?"

Alastor whipped his nose, pain shooting through it, it may have been broken but he had no way of knowing. He looked down to find blood on the back of his hand. It was definitely bloodied. He pulled his glasses off his face squinting at them, they were cracked. He rolled his eyes, placing them back on his face.

His father turned, rifle flipped over his shoulder as he made his way to the buck, calling over his shoulder, "Can't even take a hit like a man. What a pitiful excuse for a son."

He glared after his father, his hatred burning him from the inside. He waited until his father was a good distance ahead before he moved to follow. He knew he would be the one carrying the buck home. A long walk, another reason his father was terrible on the hunting ground, he would always pick the farthest corner from where they lived. This ensured anything they caught Alastor had a long trek with it home. His father never helped, he would simply walk faster, leaving Alastor to struggle on his own. He should have just let him miss.

When he finally caught up to his father, he gave him a hard slap on the back a small chuckle escaping him.

"I think he's about twice the weight of you, kid. Haha! Enjoy the walk back."

His father turned, headed back the way they had come, his laugh following him as he left. Sick bastard.

"And don't spoil that pelt, it'll fetch some good dough from Mr. Booker."

Alastor sighed looking down at the buck wishing we could just fast forward the next few hours. Hauling this thing back was going to be a royal pain in the ass. He couldn't even skin it, having nothing to carry the meat in. He ran a hand through his hair, unintentionally smearing blood through it.

The sun was almost down and Alastor was only half way home. His shirt was disheveled, blood smeared and dripped all over it, some from the buck, some from his nose. He was soaked in sweat, his glasses constantly sliding down his nose. A nuisance while trying to haul a dead deer on his shoulders.

He threw the buck at his feet sitting down beside it. He needed a break. He wiped his forehead with his sleeve watching the sun slowly sinking behind the horizon. At least with it gone, it wouldn't be as hot and humid, though his mother would start to worry.

"You need a hand there young fella?"

He looked up to find a blond man, with eyes darker than black, dressed in a well tailored suit. Not someone who would normally be bothered with the likes of him. Even less so in his current state.

He simply waved the man off. He was being polite, there was no way this man would help haul this deer. On any deer. He looked like a big shot, someone that didn't dirty their hands with the common folk.

"I believe we can help each other out." He held his hand out to help Alastor to his feet.

"The names Tucker, Dolion Tucker."

Alastor pushed himself to his feet, dusting his hand on his pants before reaching it out. You never shake a man's hand while seated.

"Alastor. Pleasure to be meeting you sir."

He gestured to the deer at his feet. "Handsome buck you've got. A fine shot too, I'm impressed."

"Thank you sir."

Dolion humbly waved at the formality. "Just Tucker is fine. Tell me, what can I do to help?"

Alastor shook his head. He was a bit taller than the other man despite being far younger. "I'm quite capable of managing on my own thank you."

Tucker took a look around and Alastor now took notice that darkness was creeping in faster than he realized, the streets becoming quiet. No one else was around. This wasn't good.

"I have some friends that could give you a hand."

Alastor took a step back, getting weary of the man in the suit. He knew well enough nothing came for free. He didn't want to be owing this man any favours let alone any for these 'friends' of his.

Tucker chuckled. "Yes, I suppose I'm not doing a good job selling my wares, am I? I have some special friends that are capable of…otherworldly things."

Alastor turned away uninterested. What a load of baloney. He bent down to pick up the deer, slowly working his way around Tucker, toward home.

"The hour is getting late so I must be on my way. I wish you a good night sir."

Tucker turned watching as Alastor made his way past him, a sly grin on his face.

"I understand your disinterest, you are a smart young fella. Perhaps a demonstration would be better than the ravings of a stranger."

Tucker moved in front of Alastor, walking backward so they were face to face. He pulled out a flash of silver and Alastor froze. Did this guy just pull a knife? He took one step back, but Tucker remained where he stood taking the blade and slicing it across his palm deep. Alastor gave him a horrified look. Is this guy screwy? He was about to make a remark, tell him off, but he watched as the slice of the man's hand closed itself before vanishing like it had never happened.

Alastor shook his head, heart now racing. He had to have imagined it. Yes, all this exertion simply muddled his mind a bit.

"What is it you really want, son? Name your price and I will deliver."

Alastor shifted the deer on his shoulders. This had to be a joke. What was the most outlandish thing he could request? Something no one could accomplish. A small smile tugged at his lips.

"I want to be the voice of WWL."

It was an impossible dream, not only were they one of the first radio stations in New Orleans he was certain they would never let a man like him run it, but if this man could promise such a task, it may lead him to believe this man may indeed have 'otherworldly' friends after all.

Tucker chuckled darkly. "Not a small ask, but I do believe I can make it happen. I may need a couple of years to get it done. In exchange, I would like your first born."

Alastor laughed. This guy was certainly a loony, but he had a good sense of humor. "You want a child?"

His eyes widened as a parchment appeared from thin air in a poof of black smoke. Perhaps it was there the whole time? Hard to see in the failing twilight?

"Your first born. Sign the bottom line and become the next star in radio."

Alastor stared at the paper for a while floating in the darkness. Floating? This seemed insane. Surely he wasn't one to fall for this snake oil. Though he supposed he had nothing really to lose. He had no desire to find himself a gal, nor have kids. If this man did indeed complete his end of the bargain, it would be free on his end, and if he did not, well it wasn't like he gave up anything in return. Was there a small part of him that hoped maybe this man wasn't a loony, that he could indeed accomplish a seemingly impossible task, yes. But he wasn't one to get his hopes up, life was cruel, unfair, it did as it pleased.

"Very well. You have yourself a deal sir."

Tucker only smiled, handing him a pen where he signed the bottom of the parchment. When he finished, a swirl of black smoke spun around the two causing any small debris to flutter around. Something else that didn't seem to sit right with him.

"I look forward to seeing you again Alastor." Tucker turned making his way down the street leaving Alastor to watch him with a look of confusion. What a strange man.

Alastor continued his way home, left reeling about the unsettling encounter he just had.

Every once and a while he would think back to Tucker. He had made good on his word, it was about two years later that he was indeed the voice on what was then the oldest radio station in New Orleans, but by that time the name became a lost memory, forgotten, unimportant. He was never going to fulfill his end of the bargain anyway and he didn't.