Chain Of Pleasure

Chapter 9

Piper clenched tight to the corner of her pillow, hearing him downstairs, thunking around every now and again, humming softly as he set down a beer bottle.

Every bit of her said come upstairs, but Piper wasn't stupid.

She almost sighed but settled for rolling softly to her other side and staring at the half open window; very, very faintly she could hear the hiss of what was possibly Croatoan's. Would she ever have to come face-to-face with one of those monsters? She hoped not, she could shoot but she would never out run one of those things.

What Piper wanted most right now was to go to sleep.

After the whole thing with Edward and the question of what she was. . .Piper was so tired. She wanted to lie down and go to sleep for a couple hundred years, but it looked like she wasn't even going to get five minutes and it wasn't because of the giant stomping around downstairs.

Okay, maybe it was.

She wanted to talk to him, wanted to at least sit there with him more but now? Now, he was just scaring the s**t out of her; black eyes, the leering and the suggestive tones -- she was terrified.

But also, not.

She clenched tight to the pillow and curled her knees up further to her chest. She was more scared of her reaction to this than actually seeing those black eyes. She wanted to talk to him more, she wanted him. . .more. It was so much better and scary in real life, the snark and the way he moved was. . .sexy.

"I'm so doomed," she whispered softly.

What was she going to do? It wasn't like she knew what was on the other side of that barrel and honestly she wouldn't have cared, so long as she could get away from her mother. She had thought of what could possibly be there, a blinding light like the tales went, maybe she would see the people she had lost or ones she had never known.

But, not once, had she though that this would become her reality.

Several pinches to the arms, legs and even her face had proven half of this was real. Maybe it was a coma? She was just having such a hard time believing this, for obvious reasons, but maybe if she accepted it. . .maybe things would go just a little easier. It was where she had always wanted to be, right? Maybe she could make the best of what she was given, even if it wasn't the time line she wanted to be in.

Even if it was the wrong Edward. . .

"Go the f**k to sleep," not snippy, just bored, but she still jumped at the boom in his voice.

She nodded softly, though he most likely couldn't see her and buried her face under that crappy blanket.

"Yeah," she murmured. "Completely doomed."

She doesn't like waking up in this place, even though at first it is quite lovely.

It has the feel of the area its in, the smell of the trees and the dirt, the sound of the birds and the distant murmur of the people going about their day.

Peaceful, to some.

Piper is, however, woken by herself screaming because there are big, black eyes staring right into hers.

She flails and topples over the other side of the bed, much to Edward's amusement because he's snickering as she clenches the fabric over her chest and ties to calm her heart. As the bed creaks, her other fist tightens in the sheets and she peers up through her tangled hair as he swaggers around the foot of the bed. He's all confidence and humor while she is still hyperventilating on the floor.

"That was more fun than I thought it would be," he hums.

"Wh-Why," she whined, pushing herself up to her shaky, jello legs. "Y-You scared the c-crap out of me."

"At least you don't mean literally," he brushed past her. "And be lucky I don't smack your ass, pull up those damn shorts girl."

Piper flushed darker and adjusted her bottoms, finding them very much lodged in places that were too tempting for someone so obviously sinful. She pushed her hair back and looked around for him, but he was already gone downstairs and she breathed a sigh of relief.

What the Hell was -- no, no questioning, she'd be stuck there all day and just - no.

When she came downstairs, fresh faced and wet hair but only her shirt had changed -- back into the dingy one she came into this world in -- Edward was standing at the counter and fiddling with something but Piper chose to let him work instead of being curious and wanting to see what it was. It sounded like a gun, but she couldn't be positive. She sank silently onto the edge of the couch, tucking her hands between her knees; it was a bit nippy in here, was it getting closer to fall like in her old world?

"Boring babysittin," he murmured and Piper peered up from beneath her bangs. "Unless you wanna get a lil frisky," he winked over his shoulder and Piper visibly stilled. "Nah, nah I'm bein good, I'm not completely heartless," he paused. "Well, not heartless at all but that whole 'no soul' thing is really confusing."

"How," she whispered and he looked over at her. "How did. . .did you lose your soul?"

He hummed as he stared at her, lips lightly pursed as he seemed to weigh out what he wanted to say. "Just made some bad choices when everything went down," he sighed, but it was another bored sound. "Can't say it hasn't been helpful, or exactly fun. Guess bein human did come with a few points in better decision making but eh," he shrugged and went back to whatever he was fiddling with. "I get the job done, and no one fights a demon for control. Well, they don't know I'm a demon. . ."

"They'd try to kill you," she murmured.

"And I can't lose my small army," he snickered and turned -- he had been cleaning a gun.

He sat down beside her again and Piper was more relaxed than before, possibly because she could almost predict what he would do where as last night. . .she couldn't. He had been trying to keep one stronger side under check and it caused for those gruff mood swings. This time, she could gauge a change in the mood better and Piper liked that. She liked at least her little illusion of control in this situation.

"Where. . .where is Castiel," she murmured, wiggling uncomfortably in her seat.

"Hunting," her eyes flickered over to him. "And exactly what you think, other demons," he chuckled. "That's gonna be a fun conversation when he brings one in."

Piper hummed softly and swiped her thumb over the back of her hand. "You're. . .looking for the Colt."

"I suppose I don't even have to ask how you know," he c****d a leg up on the edge of the couch, turning to face her a little more. "I bet you know every dirty little secret from here to the moon."

She swallowed thickly, her eyes flickering over to him and down to her knees. "I do," she admitted. "And there are more. . .but. . .well, I think I could tell you but you weren't supposed to be a demon, I don't know how that would effect anything."

"Not really lookin to chat anyway," he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "And you know that."

"Can you please stop that," Piper whispered. "Its. . .making me uncomfortable."

His throaty chuckle nearly made her melt, which made Piper hate herself just a little more. He was a demon, dammit, she shouldn't be melting to him like that but she remembered the first of season ten.

Yeah, yeah she was gonna lose this battle.

"Kind of the point," his voice was thick. "So, tell me, ever kissed a guy before?"

Oh f**k.

She nearly cried when the door opened and saw Castiel; when she stood, Edward looked as disgruntled as she expected him to. Castiel looked disheveled and tired, blood soaking into his hair line but there was no indication it was his, so she didn't fret over it vocally. Piper clasped her hands together in front of her, giving the angel a waiting look.

"We need you," Castiel barked at Edward, who grunted and stood; when those blue eyes hit Piper, her stomach twisted into knots. "And you. He knows your name."

"N-No," she shook her head fiercely. "I'm not going anywhere near another demon."

"And you expect us to just leave you here all vulnerable like," Edward arched an eyebrow. "Leave another demon an opening to snatch ya up?"

"He shouldn't even know my name," Piper furrowed her brow. "Unless he. . .he knows how I got here."

"How about you stay here with her," Edward suggested. "We keep em for a few days anyway, first interrogation is on me."

Castiel sighed but didn't fight it at all. "That seems reasonable," he paused. "I will take her to find some thing to eat."

"Just take her over to your place," Edward stopped at the door, rocking it back and forth with his grip on the handle. "And open a window, don't need her to be stoned when I get her back."

Cas nodded, looking slightly sheepish and Piper chuckled, giving him a warm smile once the door was shut. "He was very nice," she assured Cas. "I mean, as nice as a demon can be, ya know."

Castiel sighed on minor relief and started towards the door, Piper shuffling behind him. "That is a relief," he started. "I did not want to have to deal with the aftermath were he to lose control," he cast a glance back at Piper as she squinted at the sun. "We will introduce you to everyone slowly, things are very tense right now and they are already curious. We do not need anyone finding out where you came from."

Piper nodded softly. "I can understand that, no rush," she didn't really wan to get to know anyone anyway. "Do you think the demon will be any help?"

Castiel nodded and held back the blanket for her to duck into his cabin. "He was on the inside. . .we had a very difficult time getting our hands on him. But he will be worth it, I am sure."

"And if you find the Colt," she looked over at Cas. "What then? Are you going to let Edward shoot Sam or what?"

He blinked slowly. "I forget you know," he hummed and gave her a quizzical look. "What else do you know?"

Piper shrugged and almost sat on the couch but that questionable stain. . .

"I know too much," she paused. "The future, the past. . .mostly about Sam and Edward," she chuckled softly. "I feel for you, having to handle the two stubborn men."

Castiel smiled. "And I appreciate that, they really were quite the handful," he hesitated. "But now Sam. . .well, you know."

Piper frowned. "I do. . .it gets better, okay? Just know that."

"I believe you, but you did seem shocked to know Edward was a demon."

Piper blinked slowly, perching on the arm rest. "There are. . .fan theories, and that was one of them, I was just surprised it was true. . .which makes me wonder what other ones are real. It would be a strange view."

"Not as strange as living it," he gave her another warm smile. "But this new world. . .has to be a bit of a shock to you on a different level."

Piper chuckled softly. "Oh yeah," she sighed. "But. . .to be honest, I don't mind, because I've still never wanted to be anywhere else. And I know I'm gonna regret that sentence soon."

Castiel chuckled. "In my line of work, I'm positive for you," he paused. "How about we find you food first, then you can regret your choice of words?"

Piper grinned. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Castiel has books.

Piper freaking loves books.

Right now she's reading one about Eden, where Eve is too innocent for her own good and God is a d**k, which almost makes her giggle but Castiel is just on the other side of that curtain apparently making glorious love to a girl named Clarke so she just shoves those ear plugs in a little deeper and tries not to blush too hard.

Piper flips the page and marvels at the depiction of the serpent, with feathers and glittering scales; he must have been so beautiful. She loved the book the moment she had touched it and the ear plugs made for quite the stifled, leisurely book reading she was enjoying.

It'd been hours sitting here with Cas, he'd gone through boxes of books with her gladly and after they had both eaten, they discussed what she knew of his personal little world and she told him what she could -- what she thought was acceptable anyway. Nothing from the future, nothing about what would be happening hopefully soon.

Or would it happen?

Now that she was here. . .would something happen to change the time line? How many angels knew she was here, how many demons?

Just how screwed was she?

She didn't look up when she felt those heavy thumps, just thinking it was Cas and his lady friend, but then a few bloody droplets hit the page and Piper tensed up. Her hands trembled as she peered up from beneath her brow, only marginally relieved to see Edward because holy cow that was a lot of blood.

"Edward," she whispered and pushed her book to the side, reaching out to touch his busted lip when she stood but her hand jerked back and clenched at her side. "Wh-What happened?"

"Fucker jumped me during the interrogation," he looked around, almost like he were in a daze. "He in there fuckin someone?"

Piper nodded softly. "Yeah. . .yeah," she pried the plugs out of her ears, able to hear more than just Edward's voice now and she frowned. "Can we leave now? I don't wanna hear that anymore."

The ecstasy riddled moan made Edward smirk and he grabbed Piper around the waist, much to the girls embarrassment. "Sure ya don't wanna join em, sounds like a lot of fun on the other side."

Piper huffed and pushed away from him enough to stumble but he didn't seem bothered. "Its gross," she murmured. "s*x is. . .gross."

"Wow, virginity intact for sure," he snickered and Piper's cheeks turned bright red. "Don't worry," he winked. "Your secrets safe with me."

Piper didn't say anything, just looked away before something stupid tumbled out of her mouth. The air was a light more light than it was earlier, which made for an easier, slow walk than she and Castiel had, had hours ago. But there was the violent thrashing of a demon in one of the shacks near the middle of the camp that made Piper edge closer to Edward; he was safe. It made a little bit of curiosity bloom inside of her, which she found odd but not entirely.

She grunted when she ran into half hard-half soft wall and then turned sheepish when she noticed it was Edward. "S-Sorry," she muttered and took a step back.

When he said nothing and also didn't move, Piper looked up again and saw that amused under one again. "Know how ta shoot," he questioned.

"Um. . ." Okay, complete change. "Yeah, why?"

He hummed softly and started walking again, this time towards that big, ominous looking gate. "Mine and Cas' shift tonight. . .and he's obviously a little tied up at the moment. So you're the lucky winner of help shoot Croats tonight."

"But I don't -- why can't you get someone else," why her?

Edward rolled his eye and slapped a hand against the small of her back, tugging her along with ease. "Cus I don't like working with these dumbasses," he paused and pushed her up the steps to the wall. "Plus, I wanna see how well ya shoot. Can't be runnin around protecting your dumbass if something happens."

Piper nodded softly and, despite her instincts screaming no, she grabbed the rifle he handed her. The look he gave her was approving and Piper almost smiled, but she focused on the singular path leading past the second wall ringing the camp. Her grandpa fought in the war, taught her hoe to use a gun and even a little use of a knife just in case. In case of what, Piper never understood but she'd also grown into a family of hunters, so she could never really properly question why she would need to know such things. But she hadn't been taught to kill people, or Croats, so that. . .made things a little difficult; her hands were shaking.

"The demon said your name," Piper looked over at Edward. "Said he just knew it. . .but didn't know jack about you," he gave her a slightly suspicious glance. "Sure there's nothin you aren't tellin us?"

Piper tensed. "I-I'm not one of them," she promised. "I swear, I'm just a very confused human, okay?"

"Mhhm," he shifted his weight and stared down the road, the air howling somewhere through the trees. "How'd ya learn to shoot?"

Piper hesitated. "My grandfather," she muttered, adjusting her grip on the old hunting rifle. "Before he went crazy. . .always spoutin nonsense and codes, gibberish. . .before that he was a sharp shooter, a sniper. Taught me everything."

Edward grunted. "Well, ya better follow exactly in his footsteps because I don't wanna end up catchin one of your stray bullets, kid."

Piper pursed her lips and nodded. "I won't let you down Edward."